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Translated Texts for Historians

300-800 AD is the time of late antiquity and the early middle ages: the
transformation of the classical world, the beginnings of Europe and of Islam,
and the evolution of Byzantium. TTH makes available sources translated
from Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, Georgian, Gothic and Armenian.
Each volume provides an expert scholarly translation, with an introduction
setting texts and authors in context, and with notes on content, interpretation
and debates.

Editorial Committee

Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford

Averil Cameron, Keble College, Oxford

Marios Costambeys, University of Liverpool

Mary Cunningham, University of Nottingham

Carlotta Dionisotti, King’s College, London

Peter Heather, King’s College, London

Robert Hoyland, University of St Andrews

William E. Klingshirn, The Catholic University of America

Michael Lapidge, Clare College, Cambridge

John Matthews, Yale University

Neil McLynn, Corpus Christ! College, Oxford

Richard Price, Heythrop College, University of London

Claudia Rapp, University of California, Los Angeles

Raymond Van Dam, University of Michigan

Michael Whitby, University of Warwick

Ian Wood, University of Leeds

General Editors

Gillian Clark, University of Bristol
Mark Humphries, Swansea University
Mary Whitby, University of Oxford

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A full list of published titles in the Translated Texts for Historians
series is available on request. The most recently published are
shown below.

Bede: On Ezra and Nehemiah

Translated with an introduction and notes by SCOTT DEGREGORIO
Volume 47: 304pp, 1006. ISBN 978-1-84631-001-0

Bede: On Genesis

Translated with introduction and notes by CALVIN B. KENDALL
Volume 48: 371pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-088-1

Nemesius: On the Natnre of Man

Translated with introduction and notes by R. W. SHARPLES and P. J. VAN DER EIJK
Volume 49: 283pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-132-1

Sources for the History of the School of Nisihis

Translated with introduction and notes by ADAM H. BECKER
Volume 50: 2I7pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-161-1

Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 553:
with related texts on the Three Chapters Controversy

Translated with an introduction and notes by RICHARD PRICE
Volume SI, 2 voh, 384pp + 360pp. 2009, ISBN 9781846311789

Three Political Voices from the Age of Justinian: Agapetus - Advice to the Emperor,
Dialogue on Political Science, Paul the Silentiary - Description of Hagia Sophia

Translated with notes and an introduction by PETER N. BELL
Volume 52: 249pp, ISBN 978-I-8463I-209-0

History and Hagiography from the Late Antique Sinai

DANIEL E. CANER, with contributions by SEBASTIAN BROCK, RICHARD M. PRICE
and KEVIN VAN BLADEL

Volume S3: 346pp, ISBN 978-1-84631-216-8

Orosius: Seven Books of History against the Pagans

Translated with introduction and notes by A. T. FEAR
Volume 54: 456pp., 2010: ISBN 978-1-84631-473-5 cased, 978-1-84631-239-7 limp

The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity

Translated by GEOFEREY GREATREX, with ROBERT PHENIX and CORNELIA HORN;
introductory material by SEBASTIAN BROCK and WITOLD WITAKOWSKI
Volume 55: forthcoming 2010: ISBN 978-I-8463I-493-3 cased, 978-1-84631-494-0 limp

For full details of Translated Texts for Historians, including prices and
ordering information, please write to the following:

All countries, except the USA and Canada: Liverpool University Press,
4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZU, UK {Tel +44-[0] 151-794 2233,
Fax-i44-[0] 151-794 2235, EmailJ.M. Smith@liv.ac.uk, http://www.liverpool-
unipress.co.uk). USA and Canada: University of Chicago Press, 1427 E.
60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, US {Tel 773-702-7700, Fax 773-702-9756,
www.press.uchicago.edu)

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Translated Texts for Historians
Volume 56

Bede

On the Nature of Things
and On Times

Translated with introduction, notes
and commentary by
CALVIN B. KENDALL
and FAITH WALLIS

Liverpool

University

Press

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First published 2010
Liverpool University Press
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool, L69 7ZU

The authors’ rights have been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A British Library CIP Record is available.

ISBN 978-1-84631-495-7 cased
978-1-84631-496-4 limp

Set in Times by
Koinonia, Manchester
Printed in the European Union by
Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow

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To our best beloveds,

Eleanor Kendall and Kendall Wallis,
who teach us what is most important
about the nature of things,
and who share all our times.

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CONTENTS

Illustrations x

Acknowledgements xi

Abbreviations xiii

Introduction

Date and Purpose of On the Nature of Things (ONT) and On Times iOT) 1
Structure and Content of ONT and OT 3

Unity of Conception of ONT and OT 4

The Place of ONT and OT in Bede’s Thought 6

Bede’s Template: Isidore of Seville’s De natura rerum (DNR) 7

Bede’s Transformation of Isidore’s DNR 12

Bede’s Attitude Toward Isidore 13

The Easter Controversy and the Pedagogy of Computus 20

The Christian World-Chronicle 25

Bede’s Science: Continuities and New Directions 30

The Transmission of ONT and OT 33

The Reception of ONT and OT: Glosses and Excerpts 37

Principles Governing this Translation 42

Inventory of Manuscripts and Editions of Bede’s ONT and OT 43

Bede: On the Nature of Things

A Poem of Bede the Priest 71

The Chapters of On the Nature of Things 72

1. The Fourfold Work of God 74

2. The Formation of the World 74

3. What the World Is 75

4. The Elements 75

5. The Firmament 76

6. The Varied Height of Heaven 77

7. Upper Heaven 77

8. The Heavenly Waters 77

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CONTENTS

viii

9. The Five Circles of the World 78

10. The Regions of the World 79

11. The Stars 80

12. The Course of the Planets 80

13. Their Order 81

14. Their Orhits 82

15. Why Their Colours Change 83

16. The Circle of the Zodiac 83

17. The Twelve Signs 84

18. The Milky Way 84

19. The Course and Size of the Sun 85

20. The Nature and Place of the Moon 85

21. Method for Determining the Course of the Moon through the

Signs of the Zodiac 86

22. The Eclipse of the Sun and the Moon 87

23. Where there Is No Eclipse and Why 88

24. Comets 89

25. The Air 89

26. The Winds 90

27. The Order of the Winds 90

28. Thunder 91

29. Lightning 91

30. Where Lightning Is Not and Why 92

31. The Rainbow 92

32. Clouds 92

33. Rains 93

34. Hail 93

35.Snow 93

36. Signs of Storms or Fair Weather 93

37. Pestilence 94

38. On the Dual Nature of the Waters 94

39. The Ocean’s Tide 95

40. Why the Sea Does Not Grow in Size 95

41. Why It Is Bitter 96

42. The Red Sea 96

43. The Nile 96

44. That the Earth Is Bound by Waters 97

45. The Position of the Earth 97

46. That the Earth Is Like a Globe 97

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CONTENTS ix

47. The Circles of the Earth 98

48. More on the Same Subject; the Art of Using Sundials 101

49. Earthquake 101

50. The Eire of Mount Etna 102

51. The Division of the Earth 102

Bede: On Times

The Chapters of On Times 106

1. Moments and Hours 107

2. The Day 107

3. The Night 108

4. The Week 108

5. The Month 109

6. The Months of the Romans 109

7. Solstice and Equinox 110

8. The Seasons 111

9. Years 112

10. The Leap-Year Day 112

11. The Nineteen-Year Cycle 113

12. The ‘Leap of the Moon’ 113

13. The Contents of the Paschal Cycle 114

14. The Eormulas for the Headings of the Paschal Table 115

15. The Sacrament of the Easter Season 116

16. The Ages of the World 117

17. The Sequence and Order of Times 118

18. The Second Age 119

19. The Third Age 120

20. The Eourth Age 122

21. TheEifthAge 124

22. The Sixth Age 126

Commentaries

Commentary: On the Nature of Things 135

Commentary: On Times 166

Appendices

Appendix 1: Bede: A Hymn on the Work of the First Six Days and

the Six Ages of the World 180

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CONTENTS

Appendix 2: An Excursus on Bede’s Mathematical Reasoning 186

Appendix 3: Bede’s Calculation of Tidal Periods and the Purported

‘Immaturity’ of On the Nature of Things 188

Appendix 4: Bede and Lucretius 191

Select Bibliography 193

Index of Sources and Parallels 206

General Index 212

ILLUSTRATIONS

Schematic Model of Bede’s Cosmos 134

Horologium 144

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

At the conclusion of a long and happy collaboration, it is our special pleasure
and privilege to acknowledge our debt to Dr Mary Whitby, who had the wit
to bring us together in the hrst place, and then to keep us on track with
counsel and encouragement until the moment when the project came into
its hnal fruition. Collaboration can take different forms and mean different
things. It may not be out of place to describe ours. Each of us had, indepen¬
dently and without knowing of the other’s efforts, drafted translations of
Bede’s De natura rerum and De temporibus and begun the work of annota¬
tion and commentary, when Mary, learning of these parallel projects, put us
in touch and proposed collaboration. Then began an intense period of joint
scholarly effort, extending over several years during which we exchanged
hundreds of e-mails and met from time to time for ‘summit conferences’, as
we liked to think of them, at Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the Green Mountains
of Vermont and in the lovely city of Montreal. Our method was simple: we
stitched together our preliminary versions into a single electronic master-
file, and then exchanged the file, turn and turn about, over and over again,
accepting or rejecting each other’s work, word by word, line by line, all
the while adding new materials, until we reached complete agreement. As
we look back at it, it has proved to be a seamless collaboration, and we are
jointly responsible for the whole, both for whatever value it may possess
and, of course, for errors of fact and judgement that remain. We are grateful
to Prof George H. Brown and Dr Joshua Westgard for sharing unpublished
materials and making factual corrections to our inventory of manuscripts.
Prof Michael Lapidge reviewed the entire manuscript with meticulous care,
suggesting changes, saving us from numerous blunders and calling our
attention to unjustly neglected resources. We wish also to acknowledge the
generous assistance of Dr Kate Harris, Curator, Longleat Historical Collec¬
tions, in providing information on the Longleat manuscript of Bede’s De
natura rerum. Alison Welsby, the TTH series commissioning editor, deftly
handled a delicate problem that threatened to delay publication. Our greatest
debt is to our spouses, who have cheerfully tolerated our Bedan obsessions

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

xii

over many years, and who surrounded us with warmth and enlivened our
evenings with good fellowship in the course of our various ‘summit confer¬
ences’.

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ABBREVIATIONS

Ambrose, Hex. Ambrose, Hexaemeron
ANF The Ante-Nicene Fathers

ASF Anglo-Saxon England

Augustine, DCD Augustine, De ciuitate Dei
- DGAL De Genesi ad litteram

Bede, DNR
- DT

- DTR

- EH

- In Gen.

- ONT

- OT

BHW

Blaise

BOH

BOT

CCSL

Colgrave and
Mynors
CSASE

CSEL

Eontaine, Trade
Gameson,

Bede, De natura rerum

De temporibus

De temporum ratione

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

In Genesim

On the Nature of Things [= De natura rerum]

On Times [= De temporibus]

Bede and his World, ed. Lapidge

Blaise, Dictionnaire latin-frangais des auteurs chretiens
Venerabilis Baedae Opera Historica, ed. Plummer

Bedae opera de temporibus, ed. Jones

Corpus Christianorum series latina

Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People,
ed. Colgrave and Mynors

Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum

Isidore, DNR\ Trade de la nature, ed. Fontaine

Gameson, The Manuscripts of Early Norman England

Manuscripts

Gneuss, Handlist Gneuss, Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts
FIMML Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, manuscript database

Isidore, DNR Isidore, De natura rerum
- Etym. Etymologiae

Ps.-Isidore, DOC Pseudo-Isidore, Liber de ordine creaturarum
Jerome, Chron. Jerome, Chronicon

Jones, ‘MSS of Jones, ‘Manuscripts of Bede’s De Natura Rerum’

Bede’s DNR’

- BP Bedae Pseudepigrapha

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xiv

ABBREVIATIONS

Jordanus

Jordanus: An International Catalogue of Mediaeval Scientific

Manuscripts

Josephus, Ant.
Krusch, 1

Josephus, Historiae antiquitatis iudaicae

Krusch, Studien zur christlich-mittelalterlichen Chronologic:

Der 84-jdhrige Ostercyclus

Krusch, 2

Krusch, Studien zur christlich-mittelalterlichen Chronologic:

Die Entstehung unserer heutigen Zeitrechnung

LCL

MGH

Loeb Classical Library

Monumenta Germaniae Historica

MGH: AA MGH: Auctores Antiquissimi

Mommsen, CM 3 Mommsen, Chronica minora 3 (MGH: AA 13), 223-354
Niermeyer Niermeyer, Mediae latinitatis lexicon minus

OLD

Oxford Latin Dictionary

Pliny, NH

Rep. Chron.

S outer

Stevens, App. 1
TTH

Patrologiae cursus completus, series latina

Pliny, Naturalis historia

Repertorium Chronicarum

Souter, A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 AD

Stevens, ‘Bede’s Scientific Achievement’, Appendix 1

Translated Texts for Historians

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INTRODUCTION

The Venerable Bede (672/3-735), a monk in the Anglo-Saxon monastery of
Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria, was the most remarkable scholar and
intellect of his age in Western Europe. He is best remembered today for his
crowning achievement. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, a
work of great literary power to which we owe nearly everything we know
about the Anglo-Saxon invasion and settlement of England, the conversion
of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, and the intertwined development of
political, religious, and educational institutions in the country up to his own
day. But the range of his writings was enormous, extending from learned
commentaries on many of the books of the Old and New Testaments to
sermons and hymns and lives of the saints to textbooks on a variety of
subjects for use in the classroom.'

DATE AND PURPOSE OF ON THE NATURE OF THINGS (ONT)
AND ON TIMES {OT)

On the Nature of Things^ and On Times,^ two short and seemingly unpreten¬
tious works, are of great significance not only because they were probably
Bede’s first literary productions, but because they set up certain landmarks
for his future development as a thinker and writer. On the Nature of Things is
an inventory of the material universe based on a venerable classical model;
On Times, by contrast, represents the new Christian genre of the computus
manual - a genre which Bede himself played a very significant role in devel¬
oping. Both types of writing have important moral dimensions. Ancient
cosmology and natural history from the Pre-Socratics through to Lucretius
(whose great poem furnished the title for Isidore of Seville’s treatise, and

1 For an illuminating summation, see Brown, A Companion to Bede, esp. ch. 1: ‘Bede’s
Life and Times’, pp. 1-16.

2 De natura rerum (DNR), ed. Jones, CCSL 123A, 173-234.

3 De temporibus (DT), ed. Jones, BOT, pp. 293-303; CCSL 123C, 579-611.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

thence for Bede’s"^) had an ethical purpose: to refute superstition by setting
forth rational explanations of the nature of the universe in general, and its
more awe-inspiring spectacles in particular (eclipses, earthquakes, thunder
and lightning). A second related purpose was to foster pious admiration for
the beauty and order of the world. For the ancients, the world itself was
divine and eternal. For Isidore of Seville, whose De natura rerum was the
first sustained Christian non-exegetical treatment of cosmology in Latin, the
focus of piety was the Creator, not creation. Nonetheless, he shared Lucre¬
tius’s aim of demystifying natural phenomena through reason. Isidore wrote
De natura rerum in the aftermath of the striking lunar and solar eclipses
of 611-612, and there is abundant evidence that the work was intended
to respond not only to ‘popular superstition’, but to Christian apocalyptic
speculation.® Bede composed On the Nature of Things, his revised version of
Isidore’s cosmology, at approximately the same time as he was working on
his own commentary on the Apocalypse; moreover, the companion treatise
On Times, as well as being a pious reflection on the divinely instituted order
of time, promoted a radically revised chronology of world-history appar¬
ently targeted against apocalyptic speculation.

On the Nature of Things is also a work that could have easily been adapted
for teaching. The same is the case for On Times, where the definitions and
formulas can readily be turned into questions, such as ‘What is a day?’
(ch. 2), ‘What is the difference between a lunar month and a solar month?’
(ch. 5), ‘How do you And the solar concurrent for the present year?’ (ch.
14). Bede would certainly have been familiar with didactic question-and-
answer dialogues for teaching computus, as they were found in both Irish
and continental milieux. By taking a straightforward expository approach,
however, Bede allowed On Times to be used in other contexts, for example
as ‘talking points’ in discussions arising from the Insular Easter controversy.
Ceolfrith’s letter to Necthan, king of the Piets, explaining the Alexandrian
computus {EH 5.21) may have been accompanied by On Times.

Bede ‘published’ On the Nature of Things and On Times at about the
time that he was ordained as a priest at the age of thirty. The exact year of
the composition of On the Nature of Things is unknown, but it is intimately
connected with On Times, which appeared in AD 703, and there is every reason
to believe that the two works were written in conjunction with each other.'’ It

4 On Bede’s scanty knowledge of Lucretius, see Appendix 4.

5 Fontaine, Traite, Introduction, pp. 3-6.

6 For an argument against the inference that On the Nature of Things was significantly
earlier than On Times, see Appendix 3.

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INTRODUCTION

is certain that On Times was completed in 703 because in the last dated entry
of the world-chronicle with which On Times ends Bede states: ‘At this time
Tiberius is in the hfth year [of his rule] in the first indiction’. Tiberius was
Tiberius III Apsimar, who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 698—705.
We may surmise that Bede had been collecting and organizing his materials
during the previous decade as he sought for the most effective ways to teach
his students the elements of God’s plan as revealed in the natural world and
how they could be used to calculate the proper time to celebrate Easter.^

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OE OAT AND OT

It would be natural for Bede to conceive of paired works on cosmology and
chronology, because the beginning of time was part of the story of creation
as narrated in the first and second chapters of Genesis (1:1-2:3). Not surpris¬
ingly, Bede grounded his cosmology in the Genesis account. In later years,
he wrote a ‘hexaemeron’, an encyclopaedic exegesis on the six days of God’s
creation of the world, which was eventually incorporated into book 1 of his
commentary On Genesis} This hexaemeron makes explicit the theological
underpinning of On the Nature of Things and On Times. The three works
are thus asymmetrical but complementary. The theological account in On
Genesis is evidently more signihcant from Bede’s perspective, but he deals
in it with physical issues as well. The difference between them is one of
genre (which determines organization, tone, and selection of material) and
intention. In On the Nature of Things, starting with creation and the universe
as a whole, Bede reads the cosmos downwards from the heavens, through
the atmosphere, to the oceans and rivers of earth. He takes up the four basic
elements - earth, air, fire, and water, the heavenly bodies and their orbits,
meteorological phenomena like thunder and lightning, rainbows, hail and
snow, apparent disruptions of the natural order like eclipses, earthquakes
and volcanoes, and plagues, and the fact that the earth is a globe, and its
zones and climates (see Eigure 1, p. 134).

Eascinated as he was by the underlying order and regularity of physical
phenomena, Bede’s deepest interest was undoubtedly in the temporal
order of nature, because natural time plays an essential role in the correct

7 For possible connections between Bede’s ordination as deacon at the age of nineteen and
priest at the age of thirty and his career as teacher and writer, see Kendall, ‘Bede and Educa¬
tion’, p. 105.

8 On Genesis 1.1:1-1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 68-105.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

celebration of Easter. For this reason, he may have thought of On the
Nature of Things as an extended prolegomenon to On Times. On Times,
like its ‘second, revised and enlarged edition’. The Reckoning of Time (De
temporum ratione),^ works upwards from the smallest units of time, through
the day and night, the week, month and year, to the world-ages. Crucially,
Bede takes advantage of these units, the dehnitions of which were a staple
of the encyclopaedic compendia of Late Antiquity, to introduce step-by-step
the data, including mathematical formulas, that a student would need to
understand the construction of an Easter-table. In so doing he transformed
his sources.

UNITY OF CONCEPTION OF OAT AND OT

Conceived though they were, so far as we can judge, as companion volumes.
On the Nature of Things and On Times almost immediately drifted apart
in the manuscript transmission. The drift began in the Carolingian period,
particularly on the continent, when On Times was replaced by The Reckoning
of Time, and On the Nature of Things began an independent career with the
cosmographical tradition. Of the 42 ninth-century manuscripts on our list
which contain either On the Nature of Things or On Times or both (excluding
extracts and copies containing only the chronicle from On Times) 22 contain
On the Nature of Things together with On Times, 15 contain On the Nature
of Things without On Times (in eight cases. On the Nature of Things is
paired with The Reckoning of Time), and five contain On Times without On
the Nature of Things. In other words, by the Carolingian period almost half
of the manuscripts containing either text contained only one of the pair. In
the modem era, Charles W. Jones edited On Times but not On the Nature
of Things in his magisterial volume Bedae Opera de Temporibus."^ He later
published the two independently in separate volumes of the Corpus Chris-
tianorum (123A and 123C).

9 De temporum ratione {DTR), ed. Jones, BOT, pp. 173-291; CCSL 123B, 263-544; trans.
Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 3-249.

10 Of the decision to omit On the Nature of Things, he remarked, ‘to my mind, that survey
of natural science should be published together with Bede’s commentary on Genesis’ {BOT, p.
viii). BOT contains Jones’s definitive edition of The Reckoning of Time as well as On Times.
But from both of these works he omitted the world chronicles with which they conclude with
the observation that he could not improve upon Theodor Mommsen’s ‘sound editions’ in the
Monumenta Germaniae Historica {BOT, p. viii). The exigencies of book production in the
midst of the Second World War no doubt influenced that unfortunate decision, which he recti¬
fied in his republications of The Reckoning of Time and On Times in the Corpus Christianorum.

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INTRODUCTION

Bede, however, always spoke of On the Nature of Things and On Times
together. In the Preface to The Reckoning of Time, he says, ‘Some time ago
I wrote two short books in a summary style which were, I judged, necessary
for my students; these concerned the nature of things, and the reckoning of
times’." In the bibliography he appended to his Ecclesiastical History, he
expresses himself similarly: ‘Two books, one on the nature of things and
the other on chronology; also a longer book on chronology’." And indeed
the verse epigraph that he prefixed to On the Nature of Things unmistakably
applies to both books. Bede’s order is overwhelmingly the order followed
by scribes in later centuries when the two works were copied in the same
manuscript. On Times follows On the Nature of Things sequentially, without
a break, in 56 of the surviving manuscripts. In several manuscripts from
the ninth century onwards (e.g., St Gall 248, our DNR, no. IQQIDT, no. 77)
the two works are treated as a single treatise in two books, with On Times
designated as ‘book 2’. The reverse order, with On Times preceding On the
Nature of Things is found only three times."

Of course, the two works are distinct. They represent a deliberate splitting
of Isidore’s DNR, and Bede gave them separate titles and lists of chapters.
As with his grammatical textbooks The Art of Poetry {De arte metrica) and
The Figures of Rhetoric (De schematibus et tropis), which he likewise spoke
of in the same breath, he observed a hierarchy of domains according to
which related but logically independent subjects were dealt with separately,
but kept in close association. This probably mirrors Bede’s pragmatic and
vocational approach to teaching. The curriculum was dictated, not by the
abstract schema of the ‘seven liberal arts’, but by the need of his pupils for
instruction in the particular topics for which Bede prepared his manuals.
The present volume brings the two companion texts on nature and time
together again in accordance with what we conceive to have been Bede’s
original intention."

11 The Reckoning of Time, Preface, trans. Wallis, p. 3.

12 EH 5.24: Colgrave and Mynors, p. 571.

13 In Rouen, Bibliotheque municipale U74, a twelfth-century manuscript from Jumieges
(our DT, no. 16IDNR, no. 99), Valenciennes, Bibliotheque municipale 343, a tenth-century
manuscript from St Amand (our DT, no. 9\/DNR, no. 116), and possibly in Zurich, Zentral-
bibliothek Car C 176, a manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century (our DT, no. 11 \IDNR, no.
142). Bern, Burgerbibliothek 610, and Cambridge University Library Gg II21, are not counted
here because DT is either incomplete or excerpted.

14 In addition to the MSS that designate them as books 1 and 2 of a single work, there are
some Carolingian MSS that actually fuse the two works into a single text, e.g. Bern 610 (our
DNR, no. n/DT, no. 9) and Paris, B.N. lat. 13013 (our DNR, no. 90/DT, no. 67).

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THE PLACE OE OAT AND OT IN BEDE’S THOUGHT

To understand how On the Nature of Things and On Times fit into the larger
trajectory of Bede’s development as a thinker and writer, we need to know
what kind of books these are, and what were the expectations aroused by this
genre. On the Nature of Things and On Times are conventionally categorized
by modern scholars as ‘schoolbooks’, ‘didactic manuals’ or didascalica,
with the implication that they are simplified infroductions for the instruction
of presumably young and unlearned students. There is much evidence that
Bede’s students did indeed use these works - he says in the introduction
of The Reckoning of Time that they clamoured for an expanded edition of
both - but we need not conclude that On the Nature of Things and On Times
were derivative or uncontroversial. In fact, both were quite innovative, and
On Times in particular provoked a storm of criticism. To be sure, they are
early works from Bede’s pen, but so was his Commentary on the Apoca¬
lypse - a bold choice for a maiden voyage in Biblical exegesis. Bede was a
scholar and a monk, but also seems to have been confident and self-assured
about what he was doing as a writer; he was respectful of ancient authority,
but also of his own powers to interpret and re-shape traditional learning.'^
The fact that he was working on his Apocalypse commentary at about the
same time as he was composing On the Nature of Things and On Times
is certainly not without significance. The classical de natura rerum genre,
even when Christianized by Isidore of Seville, always had as its implicit
aim the deflating of superstitious fear of natural phenomena through rational
explanation. And in the chronicle which concludes On Times, Bede offers a
vigorous challenge to a chronology of world history that encouraged belief
in the imminence of the Last Judgement, or at least confidence that its date
could be predicted. His Commentary on the Apocalypse likewise takes the
position that the vision of John is an allegory of the perennial conflict of
good and evil, not a straightforward timetable for the Last Days.'®

Another point to bear in mind is the primacy of Biblical study and Chris¬
tian doctrina for Bede. The astronomy and cosmology of On the Nature of
Things is not knowledge acquired and enjoyed for its own sake, but practical
knowledge. In the medieval scheme of things, ‘practical’ rarely means utili-

15 Roger Ray, ‘Who did Bede think he was?’, pp. 11-35.

16 The Expositio Apocalypseos has recently been edited by Roger Giyson. Faith Wallis is
preparing a translation for the Translated Texts for Historian series. Gerald Bonner’s ‘Saint
Bede in the Tradition of Western Apocalyptic Commentai'y ’ remains a useful introduction. See
also Peter Darby, ‘Bede’s Eschatological Thought’.

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INTRODUCTION

tarian. It is always linked to the ancient notion of ‘practical philosophy’, that
is, of ethics. To envisage astronomy as practical meant, then, two things for
Bede: ‘the uses of the regular motions of the heavens to reckon the passing
of times and seasons, and the attempts to incorporate those celestial virtues
of stability and order into human lives and societies’. These processes are
independent of ‘any formal articulation of mathematical astronomy or philo¬
sophical cosmologyBede was following in the footsteps of the fathers even
here, notably of Jerome and Augustine, for whom studying the heavens was a
lesson in the constancy of the divine covenant and a form of worship.'*

On the other hand, unlike either Isidore or the Carolingians, Bede does not
hold up the order of the heavens as a natural symbol of either the Christian
order of divine law, or the political order of a Christian king as God’s repre¬
sentative on earth. His perspective is Biblical: the heavens declare the glory of
the Lord, and reveal his providence, wisdom and goodness to pious minds. Nor
is Bede’s piety that of late antique quadrivial astronomy, which presented
the order of the universe as a model for the cultivation of human character.'®
As we shall attempt to demonstrate, particularly in our commentaries on the
two works translated here, Bede’s motivation and goals were driven by his
own strong religious imagination, and what set his imagination ablaze was
pondering God’s created world as space, time and number. This scientihc
dimension of his imagination interlocked with other imaginative circuits in
his thinking, notably the mysteries of salvation-history, and the place of his
own people in that history. His comprehension of the physical world was of
a piece with his understanding of what it meant to be a Christian, a monk
and an Englishman.

BEDE’S TEMPLATE:

ISIDORE OF SEVILLE’S DE NATURA RERUM

A century before Bede, the great Spanish scholar. Archbishop Isidore of
Seville (5607-636), had composed a treatise, De natura rerum [DNK\, ‘On
the Nature of Things’, that provided a convenient synopsis of basic informa¬
tion about the natural world.^° Isidore was in vogue in early Anglo-Saxon
England, and Bede quickly grasped the opportunity to revise and refashion

17 McCluskey, Astronomies and Cultures, p. 4.

18 McCluskey, Astronomies and Cultures, pp. 31-32.

19 yicCXwsk&y, Astronomies and Cultures, 124-36.

20 Ed. and trans. into French, Fontaine, Trade, pp. 163-327.

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Isidore’s manual and to supplement it with technical material from ancient
and Irish sources in order to make it a useful instrument for his students.

Isidore wrote DNR certainly between 612 and 615, and probably in the
spring of 613, at the request of the Visigothic King Sisebut.^' Its immediate
occasion may have been a total eclipse of the sun on 2 August 612, which
followed on an eclipse of the moon in the previous year, and which seems
to have provoked superstitious practices and apocalyptic fears that the king
and Isidore wished to combat. Their purpose was to show that unusual
phenomena in the earth or sky, like earthquakes or volcanoes or eclipses of
the sun or the moon, were neither the work of demons nor signs of the end
of the world, but rather part of the natural order of things ordained by God.
Isidore’s DNR can thus be seen as a Christian variation on the perennial
theme of ancient cosmological treatises of this genre, notably Lucretius’s
De natura rerum.

Isidore’s DNR is organized in three parts: (1) a ‘hemerology’, or science
of the divisions of time, beginning with the day and the hour and extending
to seasons, the year, etc. (chs. 1-8); (2) a cosmology or astronomy (chs.
9-28); and (3) a meteorology or science of terrestrial phenomena (chs.
29-48).^^ The cosmological and meteorological sections (chs. 9^8) follow
an ancient tradition.The ‘hemerologicaT section (chs. 1-8) is alien to this
tradition and comes from different sources. Its inclusion owes much to the
new Christian concern with the liturgical hours and the hxed and moveable
feasts of the ecclesiastical calendar.^'* Into the weft of this classical, pagan
material, Isidore wove an allegorical commentary based on Ambrose,
Gregory, Augustine, Jerome, and other doctors of the Church. The allegory
begins with the vicissitudes of times and ends with a vision of hell in the
fires of Mt. Etna.^^

Seven diagrams, six of them wheels {rotae), appear in the manuscript
tradition of DNR. There are wheels of the months (ch. 4), of the year (ch.
7), of the circles of the world (ch. 10), of the planets (ch. 23), and of the
winds (ch. 37), as well as a wheel of the world, the year, and man (ch. 11). In
addition, there is an oddly shaped, ‘geometric’ figure of the elements (also

21 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 1—3.

22 Fontaine, Traite, p. 7.

23 These correspond to chapters or sections in, among others, Aristotle’s Meteorologica,
books 5 and 6 of Lucretius’s De rerum natura, and book 2 of Pliny’s Natural History. Cf.
Fontaine, Traite, pp. 8-9.

24 Fontaine, Traite, p. 7.

25 Fontaine, Traite, p. 12.

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INTRODUCTION

ch. 11). Isidore refers to these diagrams in his text, so he is responsible for
their inclusion, but they are not original with him - they have a long though
somewhat obscure history.^*’ They are the reason that Isidore’s DNR was
often given the title of liber or libri rotarum in the medieval period.^’

Isidore’s DNR circulated in three recensions - a first or ‘short’ recension,
a second or ‘intermediate’ recension, and a third or ‘long’ recension.^* The
first recension comprised 46 chapters, and appended an astronomical poem
on the subject of eclipses by King Sisebut, which the king sent to Isidore.^®
The second recension added a 47th chapter, ‘De partibus terrae’’ (now ch.
48), and kept the poem of Sisebut’s. The third recension of 48 chapters
incorporated a ‘mystical addition’ to chapter 1,^® and added a new chapter
44, ‘De nominibus maris etfluminum", but omitted the poem.^'

Isidore’s DNR reached southern England shortly after 670, in the
form of the first or the second recension. Two separate batches of lemmata
from DNR appear in the ‘Leiden Glossary’, a work compiled at Canterbury
between the years 670 and 690 from the teaching of Archbishop Theodore
and Abbot Hadrian.In the year 685 Aldhelm, the abbot of Malmes¬
bury^^ and future bishop of Sherborne, addressed a treatise on poetry to
King Aldfrith of Northumbria in which he quoted a verse that he said was
Isidore’s. It occurs in Aldhelm’s enumeration of the varieties of elision (or
synaloepha) that are found in quantitative Latin poetry. ‘Isidore’, he says,

26 For the origin of Isidore’s rotae, see Fontaine, Traite, pp. 15-18.

27 Not realizing this, Plummer {BOH 1, clxii, n. 8) proposed altering the phrase de libris
rotarum Isidori, which he found printed in editions of Cuthbert’s De obitu Bedae (On the Death
of Bede) to de libris notarum Isidori.

28 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 38—45. Fontaine’s overly complex account of authorial revisions
to DNR has been questioned and his stemma accounting for the three recensions simplified by
Jose Carlos Martin, in Codoner, Martin, and Andres, ‘Isidorus Hispalensis Ep.’, pp. 353-62.
Wesley Stevens, ‘Sidereal Time in Anglo-Saxon England,’ pp. 136-37, has identified a fourth
‘more elaborate version’ of Isidore’s DNR that also circulated in parts of England. Manuscripts
of the fourth version include Exeter Cathedral, MS 3507 (ca. 960—986), London, B.L., Cotton
Vitellius A XII (eleventh c.), and London, B.L., Cotton Domitian I.

29 Epistula Sisebuti (Fontaine, Traite, pp. 329-35).

30 DNR 1.3.17-52 (Fontaine, Traite, pp. 175-77).

31 Fontaine, Traite, p. 38.

32 See Lapidge, ‘The School of Theodore and Hadrian’, pp. 54-55, and idem. The Anglo-
Saxon Library, p. 176.

33 Aldhelm has until recently been thought to have been appointed abbot of Malmesbury
in 675, but Michael Lapidge, ‘The Career of Aldhelm’, pp. 48-52, demonstrates that ‘the
beginning of Aldhelm’s abbacy cannot be reliably dated before 680, and possibly not before
685’ (atp. 51).

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‘certainly elided vowels in the following way: argutosque^'* inter latices et
musica flabra’ [among the melodious waters and musical breezes].The
verse is actually line 2 of King Sisebut’s poem, but in manuscripts of DNR
before the ninth century the poem was not ascribed to the king. Hence,
Aldhelm assumed that it was composed by Isidore.^®

It is virtually certain that it was the second recension of Isidore’s DNR
to which Bede had access. He gives no evidence of knowing the ‘mystical’
addition to chapter 1, or chapter 44 (or, for that matter, Sisebut’s poem).
He quotes with minor changes a passage from Isidore’s chapter 48, though
this is not in itself decisive because Isidore’s sentence (which is also found
in Etym. 14.2.2) is verbally identical to Augustine, The City of God 16.17,
and Bede could have taken it from either source.” However, the fact that
both Isidore and Bede conclude with a chapter on the division of the earth
- Isidore’s chapter 48 and Bede’s chapter 51 - would seem to confirm that
Bede’s copy of Isidore included what is now chapter 48. Clinching the
evidence for Bede’s access to the second recension is a phrase found only
in one manuscript of that recension and in a small group of manuscripts of
the third recension directly influenced by it. The phrase occurs in Isidore’s
chapter 37, ‘On the Names of the Months’. In it he states that the North
Wind is also called ‘Aparctias’ [hie est Aparctias], an observation which
Bede echoes in his chapter 27, ‘The Order of the Winds’ [qui et Apartias].

Now, the manuscript of the second recension that contains this phrase
is Fontaine’s ‘H’ [= Hispanus]}^ H is a Spanish manuscript of the seventh
century (636 X 686) - the oldest surviving exemplar of Isidore’s DNR. It lacks
the ‘mystical’ addition to chapter 1, and it lacks chapter 44, but it includes
the poem of Sisebut and chapter 48 (hence, it is the second recension).”
However, chapter 48 is added on fol. 24'' in a ‘slightly later’ hand'"’ (end
seventh/beginning eighth c.?), after the poem of Sisebut. Thus, H must be
very close to the archetype of the second recension. Also at the bottom of
fol. 24''are inscribed two ‘T-0’ maps that happen to correspond closely to
Bede’s verbal description of the division of the earth (see Commentary on

34 Argutusque, Ehwald.

35 Aldhelm, De metris, ed. Ehwald. MGH, AA 15, 80.1-2.

36 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 74—75.

37 Bede, DNR 51.9-11, ed. Jones, CCSL 123 A, 234.

38 Escorial, Real Biblioteca R.II.18, ff. 9^-24''. See Fontaine, Traite, pp. 20-23, 163, and
295.

39 Since the second recension lacks ch. 44, ch. 48 is numbered as ch. 47 in H.

40 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 20-21.

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INTRODUCTION

ONT51). These do not seem to originate with Isidore; he makes no reference
to them in his text, as he does with the ‘wheels’ mentioned above.

Fontaine explores the possible routes by which DNR might have reached
southern England toward the latter part of the seventh century - direct from
Spain; through Ireland; from France via Irish missionaries to the Continent
- without reaching any definitive conclusion.'*^ He assumes that the work
was subsequently diffused from southern England to Northumbria and in
particular to Bede’s monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow. This may well be the
case, but the possibility that Wearmouth-Jarrow had a more direct link with
Spain is an attractive alternative. Perhaps a Spanish scholar had made his
way to Wearmouth-Jarrow, or the monastery might have been in contact with
Spanish scholarship in Ireland. All we can say of Aldhelm’s copy of DNR
is that it was not the third recension. But of Bede’s copy, that is, the copy in
the library of Wearmouth-Jarrow, we can say that it most resembles H, the
oldest extant manuscript of DNR and one that never left Spain. And further,
if Fontaine’s conjecture that the third recension originated in Northumbria
and spread from there to the Continent is valid, then the ancestor of the
third recension might well have been the Wearmouth-Jarrow copy or one
nearly identical with it. Fontaine thinks it almost certain that chapter 44 is a
non-Isidorian interpolation of Northumbrian origin, and that the ‘mystical’
addition is more likely than not non-Isidorian - probably the work of a
scholar thoroughly familiar with Isidore’s style.'*^ Finally, the unique and
anomalous presence of the two T-O maps in H strongly hints at a connec¬
tion between Spain and Wearmouth-Jarrow. The diagram is of unknown
provenance; neither Isidore nor Bede had any hand in its construction so far
as we can tell. It may have had a long pre-history. Nevertheless, the coinci¬
dence seems remarkable that, at approximately the time an anonymous
scribe was appending the oldest extant T-0 map to Isidore’s final chapter in
Spain,'*'* Bede in Northumbria, borrowing from Pliny as well as Isidore, was
composing a verbal description for his final chapter corresponding perhaps

41 Stevens, The Figure of the Earth,’ pp. 272-73, assumes that it was Isidore himself who
added this figure to his text in AD 613. Although Fontaine, Traite, carefully notes the rotae
in each of the manuscripts he describes, he mentions the T-0 map only in connection with H.
Stevens states categorically (p. 273) that ‘no completed second or third version manuscript exists
without it’. However, there is no T-0 map in St Gall 238 (a third recension MS: Fontaine’s ‘S’).

42 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 75-78. For more on the possibility that Isidore came to England via
the Irish, see Hillgarth, ‘Ireland and Spain in the Seventh Century’.

43 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 45, 79-80.

44 The left-hand T-0 map on fol. 24'' of H is probably, though not certainly, in the same
hand as ch. 48. The right-hand map appears to be a later copy.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

more nearly to that map than any other ancient source. Could the diagram
have been inspired by Bede’s words? Or did the Wearmouth-Jarrow copy of
DNR display the same diagram as H, inspiring Bede to construct his chapter
51 as he did? We are left in the frustrating realm of conjecture.

BEDE’S TRANSFORMATION OF ISIDORE’S DNR

On the Nature of Things and On Times may be thought of as Bede’s treatises
on the spatial and temporal aspects of the physical universe respectively.
Although Bede was an adept practitioner of the allegorical interpretation
of scripture in his commentaries on various books of the Bible, he appar¬
ently considered Isidore’s allegorizations extraneous to the purposes of his
textbooks, and jettisoned them. Isidore was an encyclopaedic scholar, but
he was not a specialist in the science of Easter reckoning, nor was it his
purpose to offer students practical tools for theoretical understanding and
accurate calculation of the ecclesiastical calendar. This divergence in intent
between Isidore and Bede may have something to do with the widespread
belief among contemporary Bede scholars that Bede had a low opinion of
Isidore. We take up this question below.

In effect, Bede divided the chapters of Isidore’s DNR to create his two
textbooks. The first 23 chapters of Bede’s On the Nature of Things corre¬
spond to the ‘cosmological’ section, chapters 9-28, of Isidore’s DNR, while
the remaining 28 chapters of On the Nature of Things (chs. 24-51) corre¬
spond to the ‘meteorology’ section, Isidore’s chapters 29-48. Much of what
Bede adds to Isidore is taken from Pliny, though he used other sources as
well, notably the Irish pseudo-Isidore’s De ordine creaturarumf'^

As Fontaine points out, Bede isolated Isidore’s ‘hemerologicaT section
(chs. 1-8) and reconstituted it separately as On Timesf^ To this material
on the units of time of the solar calendar - the day, the week, the month,
the year, Bede added (1) several chapters of technical explication of the
nineteen-year cycle for reconciling the solar and lunar calendars that was
used to calculate the proper date of Easter (the foundation of the disci-

45 ‘Bede, in contrast to Isidore, found Pliny a congenial and useful source on astronomical
matters. In the fifty-one chapters of his De natura rerum, Bede used Pliny for much or most
of the material in thirty-two chapters’ (Eastwood, ‘Plinian Astronomical Diagrams’, p. 167,
n. 19). Bede’s use of pseudo-Isidore’s DOC in ONT is documented by Picard, ‘Bede and Irish
Scholarship’, pp. 139-44.

46 Fontaine, Traite, p. 7.

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INTRODUCTION

pline referred to as computus), and (2) a chronicle of the Six Ages of world
history. Much of Bede’s technical information came from Irish sources still
available to us through the eleventh-century manuscript Bodley 309, a copy
of an Irish computus anthology used by Bede himself."^’ For the universal
chronicle, Bede turned again to Isidore.

BEDE’S ATTITUDE TOWARD ISIDORE

It is a ‘fact’ well known among Bede scholars that Bede cites Isidore by
name only three times and then only to contradict him.'^® This, coupled with
a disparaging remark about Isidore that Bede is said to have made on his
death-bed, is largely responsible for the now widespread assumption that
Bede not only held the Spanish scholar in low regard, but that he feared
Isidore’s errors, if left uncorrected, might infect his students with their
untruth. However, in two well-reasoned articles, William McCready has
challenged the prevailing opinion.^'® We revisit the issue here in view of the
obvious importance of Isidore’s work, whatever Bede’s assessment of it, for
On the Nature of Things and On Times.

It was Charles Plummer who first called attention to the ‘curious’ fact
that Bede so seldom named Isidore.®” Two of the three places where Bede
did do so are in his Retractation on the Acts of the Apostles the third is in
The Reckoning of Time. The Retractation contains Bede’s second-thoughts,
additions, comments, and corrections, to his Commentary on the Acts of the
Apostles.^^ The Commentary, completed by 709, may have been his second
sustained work of Biblical scholarship (after his Commentary on the Apoca¬
lypse)', the Retractation, ca. 725-731, like The Reckoning of Time, belongs
to his later years.®®

(1) Isidore was the un-named source for Bede’s identification, in his
Commentary, of Simon Zelotes (Acts 1:13) with Simeon (or Simon),
the son of Cleophas (or Clopas), who succeeded James as bishop of

47 Jones, ‘The “Lost” Sirmond Manuscript of Bede’s Computus’, and O Croinm, ‘The Irish
Provenance of Bede’s Computus'.

48 See, e.g., Laistner, ‘The Library of the Venerable Bede’; Jones, BOT, pp. 131-32;
Fontaine, Traite, p. 79; Meyvaert, ‘Bede the Scholar’, pp. 59-60.

49 McCready, ‘Bede and the Isidorian Legacy’; ‘Bede, Isidore, and the Epistola CuthbertV.

50 Plummer, BOH 1, xli, n. 4.

51 Retractatio in Actus Apostolorum, ed. Laistner, CCSL 121.

52 Expositio Actuum Apostolorum, ed. Laistner, CCSL 121.

53 Laistner, Hand-List, p. 20.

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Jerusalem.^"^ Apparently, Bede expected to find confirmation for this identi¬
fication in earlier sources, and not finding any, had come to have douhts:
‘Isidore thinks that this is the Simon who, after James the brother of the
Lord, ruled the church of Jerusalem and under Trajan was crowned with
the martyrdom of the cross when he was one hundred and twenty years
old. And I followed him a while ago in my first book on the Acts of the
Apostles. Not examining scrupulously enough the things that he wrote, but
simply heeding his words, I supposed that he had learned them from trust¬
worthy reports of the ancients’.Even so, Bede says he dares not deny
Isidore’s identification, especially since the older authorities themselves
are demonstrably in error at times. As one example of their unreliability, he
notes that he repeated in his Commentary something that Jerome claimed
Eusebius had said in his Ecclesiastical History (that the Thaddeus sent
to cure King Abgar was the same Thaddeus who was one of the twelve
apostles’®), but when he later looked more carefully into Eusebius, he
discovered that Jerome was mistaken: this Thaddeus was not the apostle
Thaddeus, but rather one of the seventy disciples. Clearly, Bede did not
enjoy being found in the wrong, and in conclusion he excused himself by
laying the blame elsewhere: ‘I think the error ought not to be imputed to
me, when, following the authority of the great doctors, I trusted that those
things which I found in their works could be accepted without hesitation’.’^

In context, it will be observed that Bede is harder on Jerome than he is
on Isidore (Isidore may have been mistaken; Jerome certainly was in error),
but no one argues that Bede thought poorly of Jerome. We may reasonably
conclude that when Bede began compiling his Commentary on Acts he
was young enough to be awestruck at the reputation of ‘the great doctors’
(Isidore among them?), but by the time he came to write the Retractation
he had experience enough to realize that the greatest of doctors were fallible
and that their statements must be tested, and corrected when shown to be
wrong.’®

(2) Bede’s second ‘contradiction’ of Isidore is nothing of the kind. In
his Commentary, he explained that the boat or skiff (scapha) referred to

54 Expositio, CCSL 121, 10-11. Cf. On Times 22; The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 4069,
trans. Wallis, p. 200.

55 Retractatio, CCSL 121, 107 (trans. Kendall, here and below).

56 Expositio, CCSL 121, 11.

57 Retractatio, CCSL 121, 107.

58 For an extended analysis, which comes to a similai* conclusion, see McCready, ‘Bede
and the Isidorian Legacy’, pp. 58-61.

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INTRODUCTION

in Acts 27:13-16, was a flimsy craft covered with rawhide.^® He took this
explanation from Isidore’s Etymologies (19.1.21). In the Retractation, he
comments: T wrote in my first book, following Isidore, that a skiff is a
light vessel woven from willow and covered with rawhide; but subsequently
looking through the writings of others [specifically, Vegetius] I found that
small boats hollowed out from a single tree are also called skiffs He
does not say that Isidore was wrong, or that the skiff in Acts must have been
a hollow log. He simply gives a second definition of ‘skiff’.®'

(3) Bede mentions Isidore by name for the third time in chapter 35 of
The Reckoning of Time. Once again, his remarks must be seen in relation to
something he said earlier. Among the units of time that he discusses in On
Times are the seasons. Isidore had taken up, in three consecutive chapters
of DNR, ‘the Years’ (ch. 6), ‘the Seasons’ (ch. 7), and ‘the Solstice and
the Equinox’ (ch. 8). Bede reversed this order, putting ‘the Solstice and
the Equinox’ first, perhaps for the excellent pedagogical reason that, unlike
Isidore, he intended to structure his definition of the seasons around them. In
ch. 8 of OT, Bede reported the dates for the beginning of the four seasons as
determined by ‘the ancients’ - the 6th ides of the months of Eebruary, May,
August, and November (8 Eebruary, 10 May, 8 August, and 8 November) -
‘so that the solstices and equinoxes would be in the middle of the seasons’.®^
In so doing, he silently ignored the dates proposed by Isidore - the 8th
kalends of March, the 9th kalends of June, the 10th kalends of September,
and the 9th kalends of December (22 Eebruary, 24 May, 23 August, and 23
November).

However, in The Reckoning of Time 35, a more ample treatment of ‘the
Four Seasons, Elements and Humours’, Bede remarks that different authori¬
ties assign different dates to the beginning of the seasons, among them,
‘Bishop Isidore the Spaniard’, who in his DNR gives the dates mentioned
above.®^ ‘But the Greeks and the Romans [i.e., ‘the ancients’], whose
authority on these matters, rather than that of the Spaniards, it is generally
preferable to follow, deem that winter begins on the 7th ides of November

59 Expositio, CCSL 121, 94.

60 Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris 2.25.

61 Cf. McCready, ‘Bede and the Isidorian Legacy’, pp. 61-62.

62 Below, p. 111.

63 According to the received text, Isidore says ‘the 7th [uii] kalends of December’ (Fontaine,
Traite, p. 203), although Bede states ‘the 9th [miii] kalends’ (ed. Jones, CCSL 123B, 393).
However, the reading in the St-Gall manuscript of Isidore’s DNR (Stiftsbibliothek 238) agrees
with Bede’s uiiii.

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[7 November], spring on the 7th ides of February [7 February], summer
on the 7th ides of May [9 May], and autumn on the 7th ides of August [7
August]’.®'* In addition to Pliny, the Scriptures, and Bishop Proterius and the
Egyptians,®® Bede adduces support from ‘that man of the Church St Anato¬
lius, in his work about Easter’. In short, Bede does not claim that Isidore
is in error, hut rather indicates his preference between alternative attempts
to circumscribe the seasons with exact dates.®® And perhaps in appealing
to the authority of ‘the Greeks and the Romans’, Bede is being a bit disin¬
genuous. Although Pliny puts the commencement of spring and summer on
the 6th ides of February and May, respectively, he gives no definitive date for
autumn and starts winter on the 3rd ides of November.®’ Anatolius appears to
be Bede’s sole source for the notion of dehning the solstices and equinoxes
as the midpoint of the seasons, the logic of which probably appealed to
Bede.®* He sounds a little defensive, as though he might have been criticized
for ignoring Isidore’s dates and felt the need to cloak himself in the broad
mantle of the ‘ancients’.®®*

Scholars who interpret these passages to imply that Bede regarded Isidore
with suspicion have been influenced in their impressions by Cuthbert’s
mention of Isidore in his Letter on the Death of Bede. The relevant passage
reads as follows in the text and translation offered hy Colgrave and Mynors:

In istis autem diebus duo opuscula multum memoria digna, exceptis lectionibus
quas cotidie accepimus ab eo et cantu Psalmorum, facere studuit, id est a capite
euangelii sancti lohannis usque ad eum locum in quo dicitur ‘Sed haec quid
sit inter tantos?’ in nostrum linguam ad utilitatem ecclesiae Dei conuertit,
et de libris Rotarum Ysidori episcopi exceptiones [excerptiones, Plummer]™

64 The Reckoning of Time 35, trans. Wallis, p. 101. There is a one-day discrepancy between
Bede’s dates in On Times and his dates in The Reckoning of Time. This is undoubtedly owing
to the fact that the beginning of the seasons had no computational relevance, and Bede is rarely
dogmatic or concerned about precision and consistency on matters that are peripheral to his
core project. Wallis, p. 321, observes that Bede himself ‘at no point fixes calendar dates for the
beginnings of the seasons’.

65 For the importance of the Scriptures, Proterius, and the Egyptians, see Wallis, The
Reckoning of Time, pp. 320-21.

66 Cf. McCready, ‘Bede and the Isidorian Legacy’, pp. 46^7.

67 Pliny, A?//2.47.122-25.

68 For a thorough assessment of Bede’s rather complex intents and purposes in chapter 35
of DTR, see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 319-21.

69 Cf. McCready, ‘Bede and the Isidorian Legacy’, pp. 66-69.

70 Exceptio is a (frequently, legal) term meaning an ‘exception, qualification, reservation’
(OLD)', it came to mean ‘a thing extracted’ (Souter) or ‘prelevement’ (Blaise); in late British
Latin it was confused with excerptio (Latham). Meyvaert, ‘Bede the Scholar’, p. 59, translated

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INTRODUCTION

quasdam, dicens ‘Nolo ut pueri mei mendacium legant, et in hoc post meum
obitum sinefructu laborenf.

During those days’' there were two pieces of work worthy of record, besides the
lessons which he gave us every day and his chanting of the Psalter, which he
desired to finish: the gospel of St. John, which he was turning into our mother
tongue to the great profit of the Church, from the beginning as far as the words
‘But what are they among so many?’” and a selection from Bishop Isidore’s
book On the Wonders of Nature’^; for he said ‘I cannot have my children learning
what is not true, and losing their labour on this after I am gone.”'*

The passage involves textual difficulties and has been interpreted variously
in some details. It is now generally assumed to mean that in addition to
translating into English all or part of John’s Gospel, Bede was making a
collection of extracts (or corrections) from Isidore’s DNR that would shield
his students from Isidore’s (presumably egregious) errors. Considering the
fact that he began his writing career by employing Isidore’s DNR as an
armature on which to construct his two textbooks On the Nature of Things
and On Times, into which he incorporated numerous extracts from Isidore,
and that he continued to quote in extenso from Isidore in his recent work
The Reckoning of Time, making a new set of extracts (or corrections) might
strike one as an odd use of his precious final days.

An earlier generation of scholars understood one part of Bede’s second
project differently. Charles Plummer called it ‘a translation of extracts from
Isidore’.’® This involves taking exceptiones/excerptiones quasdam as a
direct object of conuertit (the first ‘direct object’ of the verb is the prepo¬
sitional phrase a capite ...ad eum locum). Jones takes it in that sense, and
Fontaine, too, views the project as a translation.’*’ However, Riche disputes

exceptiones as ‘corrections’. Plummer’s excerptiones was based on the witness of a ninth-
century St-Gall MS; this reading has strong support in MSS that have come to light since
Plummer’s day (see McCready, ‘Bede, Isidore, and the Epistola Ciithbertf, p. 90 and n. 51;
according to McCready, idem, pp. 93-94, Meyvaert now accepts the reading excerptiones and
no longer believes that Bede was hostile to Isidore). Excerptiones translates unambiguously
as ‘excerpts’.

71 This refers either to the 40 days from Easter to Ascension Day mentioned at the begin¬
ning of the paragraph or possibly to the whole period of Bede’s last illness which began two
weeks before Easter (Colgrave and Mynors, p. 580).

72 That is, John 1:1 to 6:9.

73 The liber or libri Rotarum is Isidore’s De natura rerum.

lA Colgrave and Mynors, pp. 582-83; Plummer, BOH 1, clxii.

75 Plummer, BOH 1, xli, n. 4.

76 Jones, BOT, p. 131; Fontaine, Traite, p. 79.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

the idea that it was a translation,’’ and Meyvaert flatly asserts: ‘Bede’s work
on Isidore is often spoken of as a translation, but the Latin word order of
Cuthbert’s letter does not allow such an interpretation’ Where the finest
scholars disagree, we may consider the question open.

Finally, it is widely assumed that mendacium [‘falsehood’] refers in
some way to Isidore’s DNR, as in Colgrave and Mynors’s rendering: ‘I
cannot have my children learning what is not true’, or Farmer’s: ‘I do not
wish my students to read lies ’But Fontaine flnds in Bede’s quoted words
(nolo utpueri mei mendacium legant, et in hoc postmeum obitum sinefructu
laborent) a different meaning:

C. W. Jones, EOT, p. 131, sees there a criticism of the work of Isidore, which
would be, according to him, the antecedent of the pronoun ‘hoc’. I think, rather,
that Bede was condemning some unsuccessful attempts at translating Isidore’s
treatise into the Northumbrian language, and that he wanted to leave to his young
pupils who were unskilled in Latin a proper version. I would translate thus: ‘I
do not wish my sons to read a false text, and in so doing to waste their time after
my death’ (hoc = mendacium legere).^°

If Fontaine’s reading has merit, then Bede’s words could apply equally
cogently to faulty student translations of the Bible.

A hundred and fifty years or so after Bede’s death. King Alfred gently
reproached Bede’s generation of scholars for their failure to translate the
great books of the Christian tradition into English.*' At the end of his life,
Bede may have harboured similar misgivings. In his Letter to Egbert (734),
he remarks on the number of priests who do not know their Latin and notes
that he has translated the Pater Noster and the Apostles’ Creed into English
for their benefit. Cuthbert’s Letter conveys a sense of urgency. It is remark¬
able that one of the works that Bede was hastily finishing was a translation.
Translating an extended text like John’s Gospel was a task he apparently
had never before undertaken. If both works were translations it would be
more remarkable still - to concentrate on English translation in the few
weeks remaining to him (he seems to have been conscious of his imminent
death) after a lifetime of writing in Latin. When he was younger, he could
assume that with time he would be able to remediate any deficiencies in his
students’ grasp of Latin. Now, on his deathbed, he may have feared that time

77 Riche, Education and Culture, p. 391, n. 193.

78 Meyvaert, ‘Bede the Scholar,’ p. 59.

79 In Bede: Ecclesiastical History, trans. Leo Sherley-Price, p. 359.

80 Fontaine, Trade, p. 79, n. 1 (trans. Kendall).

81 Alfred, Preface to the Pastoral Care.

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INTRODUCTION

had run out; that other teachers at Wearmouth-Jarrow were not as competent
as he, or that their numbers were thinning; and that his pupils could not be
prevented from mistranslating and introducing error (mendacium) into their
reading of the gospels or the works of Isidore.

On this reading of the evidence, the fact that Bede was working on John
and Isidore on his deathbed may be taken as testimony to their importance
in his scheme of things. He particularly cherished John’s Gospel because,
while the other evangelists narrated the facts of Christ’s life, John revealed
‘the mysteries of the divine nature’.®^ He was engaged with Isidore from
the earliest days of his career. As we have seen, he re-ordered and adapted
for classroom use Isidore’s DNR in his own On the Nature of Things and
On Times beginning in 703, and then enormously expanded On Times into
The Reckoning of Time in 725. He dropped the allegorical content of DNR
(perhaps for the same reason that he avoided overt allegorization in the
Ecclesiastical History - that is, his sense that allegory is proper to the word
of God, but not to secular texts), and he often added or substituted material
from Pliny and other sources. But in overall structure they remain adapta¬
tions of Isidore and On the Nature of Things even keeps Isidore’s title.

That Bede named Isidore only three times may be simply a measure of
how much he took Isidore for granted. He never hesitates to quote him in his
biblical commentaries. To go by the indices in two recent translations, only
Augustine and Jerome are cited more frequently than Isidore in On Genesis
and only Augustine, Gregory, and Jerome in On Ezra and NehemiahP If we
were to include Bede’s use of source-marks as a form of naming, moreover,
the number jumps dramatically. According to Jones’s chart of source-marks
in selected manuscripts of Bede’s On the Nature of Things, fifteen of the
51 chapters of that work list Isidore as a source in one or another of these
manuscripts.We can not be entirely certain that all (or any) of these source-
marks originated with Bede, but it seems likely both that some of Bede’s
marks have been lost and that few of those that remain have been added by
later scribes. Moreover, we must also consider Bede’s modus operandi as
a writer. Particularly in his earlier works, Bede’s habit was to lay down a
sort of foundation course for his projected text using the work of a recog¬
nized authority, and then to expand, modify, elaborate and personalize his
text by adding elements from other writers, particularly the greater Church

82 Bede, Homelia 1, 9 (ed. Hurst, Opera Homiletica, CCSL 122, 62).

83 See Kendall, Bede: On Genesis, pp. 355-59; DeGregorio, Bede: On Ezra andNehemiah,
pp. 258-60.

84 DNR, ed. Jones, CCSL 123A, 187.

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Fathers. The foundational writer is often never named, while the Patristic
addenda are clearly identified. We can see this process very clearly in the
Commentary on the Apocalypse, where the foundation course is the work of
Primasius - an author heavily exploited in fact, but named only once - while
the intrusive passages from Gregory or Augustine are clearly flagged. We
strongly suspect that the same dynamic is at work in On the Nature of Things
and On Times, and that it is this habit of composition, and not a particular
animus against Isidore, that led to the apparent suppression of his name.

Certainly, Bede did not regard Isidore as an expert on Easter reckoning
and he looked elsewhere for the technical information he needed to pursue
this subject. This is enough to explain the lack of ‘warmth’ that Jones
speaks of in Bede’s attitude toward Isidore.*^ But to draw from this the
broad conclusion that he distrusted Isidore’s works in general would leave
us in the awkward position of having to explain why it was that he made
so much use of him throughout his career when there was no compel¬
ling need for him to do so. Perhaps a more balanced view would be that
Bede looked upon Isidore as a worthy successor of the great doctors of
the Church whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the learning of the ancient
world, distilled into such convenient manuals as De natura rerum and the
Etymologies, could be endlessly drawn upon as from a deep well, always
provided that, like those of other doctors, his statements be subject to
verification and correction.

THE EASTER CONTROVERSY
AND THE PEDAGOGY OE COMPUTUS

Bede’s On Times innovates by amalgamating three types of Christian writing
about time: the catalogue of the units of time, or hemerology; the technical
and theological discourse on computing the date of Easter; and universal
history. Isidore had dispersed these three genres in different books of the
Etymologies, in De natura rerum and in his Chronicles. Bede fused them.
Hidden beneath the matter-of-fact surface of On Times is an intense polemic
about the correct principles for determining the date of Easter - principles
which in Bede’s view were bound up with both the integrity of nature as
God’s creation and the theological significance of Christ’s death and resur¬
rection. These are made explicit in On Times 15, ‘The sacrament of the

85 Jones, BOr, p. 131.

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INTRODUCTION

Easter season’, where Bede defends through spiritual allegory the criteria of
the Alexandrian computus, as expounded by Dionysius Exiguus.

To fashion his treatise On Times, it was not sufficient for Bede simply
to extract the hemerology from Isidore’s De natura rerum and package it
as a separate work. Rather, Bede used Isidore’s hemerology as a conceptual
framework for a totally different type of book - a manual of Christian time¬
reckoning, or computus. Just as he Christianized Isidore’s cosmology by
setting it in the context of creation, so also did he transform the hemerology
into the architecture of a science of time that encompassed both the calcula¬
tion of Easter and the unfolding of salvation-history. Some background to
both the Paschal controversy and the evolution of the world-chronicle as a
genre of Christian historiography is therefore in order.*®

The rules for determining the date of the annual celebration of Easter
were a matter of contention within the Church for many centuries. Several
interconnected issues made the resolution of this question difficult. The
historic Crucifixion and Resurrection took place during the Jewish feast of
Passover, and its theological significance was bound up with the Passover
message of sacrifice and liberation. The Jewish calendar is lunar, so the
beginning of Passover - the 14th day of the month of Nisan - will not fall on
the same date each year in a solar calendar, such as the Julian calendar used
in the Roman Empire and in medieval Europe. Secondly, most Christians
from the second century onwards chose to celebrate Easter on the historic
weekday of the Resurrection, Sunday. Since 14 Nisan can fall on any day
of the week, what was the range of dates within Nisan on which Easter
could be celebrated? Should Christians celebrate on 14 Nisan when it fell
on a Sunday? Or was 14 Nisan out of bounds, either because it would entail
celebrating at the same time as the Jews (what came to be called ‘Quarto-
decimanism’) or because Easter should mark the Resurrection, and not the
Passion of Christ? On which day was Christ crucified: on 15 Nisan (as the
Synoptic Gospels relate) or on 14 Nisan (as John tells it)? The criteria for
Passover laid out in Exodus 12:2 also state that Nisan is ‘the first month’ of
the year, that is, it falls in spring. But spring is a solar season, not a lunar
phase. When does ‘spring’ begin? At the astronomical equinox? And if so.

86 What follows is a summary of the historical sketch of computus and the Paschal contro¬
versy found in Wallis, Reckoning of Time, pp. xxxiv-lxiii, which contains references to the liter¬
ature on this subject to 1999. Important works published since then which bear on the history
of the Christian calendar prior to Bede include Declercq, Anno Domini: the Origins of the
Christian Era, McCaithy and Breen, The Ante-Nicene Christian Pasch: De ratione paschali,
and Mosshammer, The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

when exactly is the equinox? Given all the above, what are the permissible
dates in the Julian calendar on which Easter can fall?

From about the beginning of the third century, the position of the Roman
Church was that Easter should never fall before 16 Nisan, because Easter
should celebrate the Resurrection. Other churches, however, held differing
views, arguing that 14 or 15 Nisan should be acceptable because the feast
is a commemoration of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice. When the council
of Nicaea in 325 condemned Quartodecimanism, the Alexandrian church
interpreted this to mean that if 14 Nisan fell on a Sunday, Easter must be
postponed until the following Sunday. To put it another way, the Easter
limits were from the fifteenth to the twenty-first day of the first lunar month
of spring. Furthermore, ‘spring’ was defined by Alexandria as beginning on
the equinox. The earliest known table of Easter dates based on the equinox
criterion was published by Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria between 257 and
265. But here again, Rome differed, preferring the date for the entry of the
sun into Aries (18 March in the Julian calendar) as the ‘natural’ beginning of
spring. The waters were further muddied by disagreement over the calendar
date of the equinox. The Romans clung to the traditional date marked in
Julius Caesar’s calendar - 25 March. The Alexandrians, who had access to
superior astronomical advice, took account of the error in the Julian calendar
that caused the actual equinox to slip back in the calendar, and adjusted their
date to 21 March. This date, combined with the lunar limits 15-21, meant
that Alexandrians could celebrate Easter between 22 March and 25 April.
The latter date was a whole month after the former, plus seven days to take
in the following Sunday, for if 15 Nisan fell on 21 March, that entire lunar
month had to be disregarded, and the following lunar month would count as
the first lunar month of spring. The Romans fixed the lunar limits at 16-22;
but they also had an arbitrary rule about never celebrating Easter after 21
April, to avoid any coincidence of Holy Week with the celebration of the
festival of the City’s foundation on that date. At some point in the fourth
century, the old equinox date was dropped, but the other criteria remained
in force for a longer time.

There was little incentive to change the criteria, because in practical
terms they made little difference. For most of the fourth and fifth century,
Rome and Alexandria actually celebrated Easter on the same date, even if
they arrived at that date by different methods. However, the controversy
continued to simmer, and it generated, at least from the Alexandrian side,
a distinctive genre of literature consisting of a table of projected Easter
dates, combined with an explanation of the principles and formulas for

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INTRODUCTION

determining them. This essentially polemical type of technical tract would
become the staple of the ensuing discussions.

The Alexandrians were at an advantage in this debate, because there was
a Greek as well as Jewish tradition of adjusting a lunar calendar to a solar
one such as the Romans used. This adjustment had to take place because the
equinox is a purely solar event. But matching up the days of a lunation to the
dates in a Julian calendar presents numerous problems. Twelve lunar months
of about 29Vi days makes a lunar year of 354 days - eleven days shorter than
the solar year. This means that if the moon is three days old on 1 January
this year, it will be 14 days old on 1 January next year - or 15 days if it is
a leap year of 366 days. However, this is only a coarse approximation. The
average lunation of 29.5306 days, when divided into the length of the mean
tropical year of 365.2422 days, yields 12.3683 lunar months. This decimal
excess of .3683 cannot be reduced to a common fraction: it is an irrational
number, which means that no number of lunar months can ever be fitted into
any number of whole solar years. In other words, it is not possible to create a
flawless cycle of Easter dates in perpetuity. However, a more or less accurate
cycle can be devised. The common fraction which most closely approximates
the decimal excess is 7/19 (.3684), with 31/84 (.3690) as a runner up. This
means that one could just about get nineteen lunar years of 12 lunar months
each into nineteen solar years if one inserted 7 additional lunar months along
the way. These ‘embolismic’ months would be added in about every third
year (when the 11-day lag of the moon behind the sun would amount to a
whole lunar month and a bit more), though exactly where they should be
inserted, and how this might affect the calculation of the Easter full moon,
remained thorny issues. Finally, the nineteen-year cycle ends with one more
calculated lunar day than necessary, so at some point a day will have to be
arbitrarily dropped from the lunar count. This is the ‘leap of the moon’.

The nineteen-year cycle was, from an astronomical point of view, the
best option, and its high level of accuracy was used to bolster the Alexan¬
drian argument for primacy in the Paschal debate. But the eighty-four-year
cycle with 31 embolismic months had a special practical advantage: 84
is evenly divisible by 28, and the weekdays on which any given calendar
date will fall repeat over a cycle of twenty-eight years (7 days of the week,
multiplied by the four years of the leap-year cycle). If one wishes to make
a prospective table of future dates of Easter, an eighty-four-year cycle
would be superior, because it would be truly cyclical for all criteria - lunar
phase, solar date, and Sundays. In Bede’s time, the British and some Irish
communities, notably the pamchia of Iona, continued to use a version of

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

the eighty-four-year cycle. The cycle had its defects, however; over eighty-
four years it would accumulate an error of two days in the lunar reckoning.

The Alexandrian nineteen-year cycle, despite its inability to accom¬
modate a cycle of Sundays, was beginning to win adherents in the west,
especially after a ninety-five-year table based on this cycle, covering AD
437-531, and fully adapted to Julian calendar dates, was published under the
name of Bishop Cyril of Alexandria. In the years 444 and 455, there were
serious discrepancies between the Roman and Alexandrian Easter dates.
Pope Leo I’s archdeacon Hilarius commissioned the mathematician Victo-
rius of Aquitaine to explain the differences between the Roman and Alexan¬
drian systems, and suggest a solution. In 457, Victorius published new tables
which abandoned the eighty-four-year cycle in favour of the nineteen-year
cycle, but his rules for translating this cycle into dates for Easter did not
completely coincide with Alexandrian practice. He retained the old Roman
terminus of 18 March for 14 Nisan, as well as the Roman lunar limits of
16-22. Moreover, his table actually listed alternative dates for Easter: a
‘Latin’ date arrived at by his criteria, and a ‘Greek’ date, which to compound
the confusion was not actually the Alexandrian date. Despite these flaws,
Victorius’s tables enjoyed considerable success in the West because Hilarius
eventually became pope. Since Victorius addressed his table to Hilarius, this
gave the impression that the table had received papal endorsement. Victo¬
rian tables were used in the Gaulish church, and probably in many parts of
England and Ireland before and even during Bede’s lifetime.

We are accustomed to viewing the English Paschal controversy as a
conflict between Iona and Rome because of the prominence Bede gives to
the meeting at Whitby in his Ecclesiastical History. But in his computis-
tical writings, Bede actually devotes as much or more space to the defects
of Victorius’s system as to the problems of the ‘Celtic’ calculation. In On
Times, Bede in fact does not mention either of these systems for finding the
date of Easter. His aim is strictly to expound the Paschal table of Dionysius
Exiguus. Bede is rather discreet about Dionysius, naming him only on a few
occasions in On Times. He probably knew little about him, and perhaps in
the light of Victorius’s association with the papacy he did not wish to make
much of the obscure identity of the author of the Paschal tables he embraced.
Dionysius was an eastern monk residing in Rome in the early decades of
the sixth century, and he seems to have had few connections. He translated
the Cyrillian ninety-five-year table into Latin, constructed a continuation
for a further ninety-five years (AD 532-627), attached a prologue claiming
that the Alexandrian system was approved by the council of Nicaea as well

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INTRODUCTION

as a translation of the Alexandrian computistical formulae or argumenta,
and sent the ensemble to an unidentified bishop Petronius. The work had
little immediate impact, but in 525 another discrepancy loomed between
Victorius’s date for Easter and the Alexandrian date. Dionysius addressed
a letter to the primicerii of Pope John I, Bonifatius and Bonus, explaining
why Victorius’s faulty system had produced this anomaly. The death of Pope
John prevented Dionysius from receiving an official hearing, but his tables
were diffused by others, notably Cassiodorus and Isidore of Seville, who
reproduced them (not entirely faithfully) in Etymologies 6.17. When exactly
Dionysius’s tables supplanted Victorius’s in Rome has not been established,
and thereby hangs a certain degree of uncertainty over which ‘Roman’
system was being diffused in England and Ireland in the years preceding,
or even following, the encounter at Whitby. What is perfectly clear is that
Bede embraced the Alexandrian criteria expounded in Dionysius’s table - a
nineteen-year luni-solar cycle, lunar limits of 15-21, the vernal equinox on
21 March, and Paschal limits of 22 March-25 April. He adopted Diony¬
sius’s format of an 8-column Easter table, showing not only the date of
Easter itself, but also the date of the Paschal full moon, the age of the moon
on Easter Sunday, and the critical lunar and solar data (epacts and concur¬
rents) for checking the calculation. Dionysius’s table numbered the years
according to his own chronology of the year of the Incarnation, followed
by the indiction. Bede explained the table, column by column, in On Times
14. But when he composed the world chronicle which closes On Times,
he adopted the traditional annus mundi chronology. This was a deliberate
choice, for not only was the genre of Christian universal history bound up
with the annus mundi chronology, but Bede had a particular argument to put
forward about that chronology.

THE CHRISTIAN WORLD-CHRONICLE

Bede’s understanding of time in its totality and in relation to history
articulates a Christian conception that was essentially different from the
classical. The Greco-Roman world had regarded the movement of history
as cyclical, a progress away from, and a return to, a common point such as a
universal disaster - eternal generation, destruction, and regeneration.*^ Plato
describes the cyclical course of the world in a story told by the Stranger in
the Statesman:

87 Cf. Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

There is a time when God himself guides and helps to roll the world in its course;
and there is a time, on the completion of a certain cycle, when he lets go, and the
world being a living creature, and having originally received intelligence from
its author and creator, turns about and by an inherent necessity revolves in the
opposite direction.**

Perhaps in consequence of this conception of the cyclical nature of time,
numbers which referred to the age of mankind tended to be vague or impos¬
sibly large. Plato speaks of Athens being founded nine thousand years
previously,®^ and Pliny refers to observations of the stars which the Babylo¬
nians maintained for seven hundred and thirty thousand years.

The Christian concept of time was linear because Christians, like Jews,
believed that the universe was created, not eternal, and that it would one
day end. It owed much to Jewish thought, particularly the idea of a ‘chosen
people’ and the expectation of a messiah. There is a specific anticipation
of the Christian idea of history in the book of Daniel, in which Daniel has
a vision of four successive kingdoms that are to be followed by the eternal
reign of the Son of man (Dan. 7:1-27).^' In the Christian view, time had a
beginning,middle, and end, corresponding to Creation, Incarnation, and
Last Judgement. Each period was a part of God’s plan which deserved to
be studied. These periods were rapidly subdivided. Paul mentions a period
from Adam to Moses (Romans 5:14), and Matthew assigns three periods
from Abraham to Christ: ‘So all the generations from Abraham to David are
fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon
are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto
Christ are fourteen generations’ (Matt. 1:17). Matthew’s threefold division,
with the addition of the period from Adam to Abraham (halved by the deluge)
and the period from Christ onward, gave rise to the Patristic commonplace
of the Six Ages of the world, which Bede enlarged into a mystical concep¬
tion of great grandeur.^®

88 Statesman, Steph. 269, trans. Jowett, 2, 297.

89 Timaeus, Steph. 23 (Jowett, 2, 9).

90 Pliny, TV//7.56.193.

91 Cf. Lietzmann, The Beginnings of the Christian Church, p. 25.

92 The notion that time has a beginning largely originates in Judaeo-Christian thought.
According to Aristotle, ‘as to the eternity of time all thinkers, with but a single exception,
appear to agree; for they declare it to have had no origin .... Plato is the only thinker who
ascribes an origin to time: it originated he declares, simultaneously with the universe, to which
he also ascribes an origin’ (Physics 8.1, trans. Wheelwright, From Natural Science, p. 48).

93 See especially his excursus on the Six Ages of the World in On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans.
Kendall, pp. 100-5; his concluding chapters (67-71) to The Reckoning of Time, trans. Wallis,
pp. 239—49; and his Hymn on the Six Ages, Appendix 1, below.

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INTRODUCTION

Bede included a world-chronicle in both his treatises on time-reckoning.
In each case, the chronicle was presented as an illustration of the division
of time called aetas or ‘age’. The notion of the ‘age’ marked this particular
genre of Christian historiography from its inception, and had theological
consequences which spilled over from history into eschatology.

The Christian world-chronicle is to a considerable degree an adaptation
of the Hellenistic genre of synchronized histories of the various commu¬
nities of the Mediterranean world. For Christians, synchronization had a
theological message: true history was the history of salvation, planned and
executed by God, and all the separate histories of the nations were tribu¬
taries of this great historical stream. During the second and third centuries,
the comparative youth of their religion subjected Christians to mockery.
The replies made by several of the early Fathers suggest that the principal
scoffers were trained in Greek philosophy. In the course of their replies,
these Fathers not only argued for the antiquity of the Christian religion
beyond all others through its parent, Judaism, but also asserted that Moses
was the ultimate fountainhead of all pagan wisdom. The second-century
Christian apologist Tatian argued:

Therefore, from what has been said it is evident that Moses was older than the
ancient heroes, wars, and demons. And we ought rather to believe him, who
stands before them in point of age, than the Greeks, who, without being aware
of it, drew his doctrines [as] from a fountain.^^

For this kind of apologetics to be successful, a comparative chronology of
Hebrew and Greco-Roman history, never before attempted, was needed.

A contemporary of Tatian, Theophilus, bishop of Antioch (d. ca. AD
185), was among those who adduced evidence to prove the antiquity of
the faith through Judaism. In the three books of Theophilus to Autolycus,
Theophilus attempted to persuade his friend Autolycus of the merits of
Christianity. The third book contains the arguments concerning the antiquity
of Judaism, and it is here that we find the earliest extant Christian chronicle,
which sets the form for all the chronicles to come.^®

The most influential patristic practitioner of this genre, however, was
Eusebius of Caesarea (263-339). His Chronicle (Chronikoi Kanones) is a

94 See the commentary on ch. 66 in Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 353-66, and the
literature cited there. A particularly profound debt is owed to the seminal article by Richard
Landes, ‘”Lest the Millennium Be Fulfilled’”.

95 Address to the Greeks 40, ANF 2, 81. The same ground is covered by Theophilus,
Theophilus to Autolycus, and by Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata.

96 Theophilus to Autolycus, AiNF 2.

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time-line, beginning with Abraham, that gradually ties the histories of the
ancient Near Eastern empires, the Greeks and the Romans into a single,
continuous chronological braid. Eusebius’s Chronicle was translated into
Latin by Jerome, who added entries to AD 378; thereafter, continuations
were composed by Prosper (ca. 390-463) to 455 and Marcellinus Comes
to 534. Bede had access to this Latin version of Eusebius, but in On Times,
he relied on the chronicles of Isidore of Seville, for reasons which will be
explained below.

The chronological backbone of Eusebius’s Chronicle was a running total
of years from the birth of Abraham. In his preface, however, Eusebius laid
out the framework for a periodization of sacred history into ‘ages’. Eusebius
divided the span between Abraham and Christ’s earthly ministry into four
periods, punctuated by the Exodus and the construction of the first and
second Temples, and added two periods preceding Abraham, divided by the
Elood. Eusebius’s decision to omit the hrst two ages from the Chronicle was
based in part on the problematic chronology of this period, since the number
of years and generations of the Patriarchs differed between the Septuagint
and Hebrew versions of the Old Testament. Tacitly, however, Eusebius
favoured the Septuagint figure, because he dated the beginning of Christ’s
ministry to annus mundi 5228. Christ therefore would have been bom in AM
5197 or 5198; Jerome preferred 5199, which became the conventional date
in most Western world-chronicles.

Eusebius’s somewhat casual essay in periodization, however, attracted
a great deal of attention, notably from Augustine, who transformed the
Chronicle’^ six ages of pre-Christian history into six ages of world history
by merging two of Eusebius’s eras and extending the last to encompass
all time since the advent of Christ. For Augustine the number six held a
special fascination, both on the level of number symbolism and as a Biblical
figura (particularly in connection with the six days of Creation). He was by
no means original in this respect, nor was his schema of six ages entirely
unprecedented. Nonetheless, Augustine’s enormous influence, especially in
the west, made him the principal spokesman for these concepts, and a major
influence on Bede. Augustine proposed two analogies which Bede would
adopt and elaborate. First, each age of world history was like a day, with an
optimistic dawn, a zenith, and a troubled period of decline. In On Genesis
against the Manicheans (De Genesi contra Manichaeos) and particularly in
The City of God, Augustine also developed a comparison between the six
ages of world history and the six ages of human life which Bede paraphrased
in On Times 16. However, Augustine was not particularly concerned with

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INTRODUCTION

chronological issues, including the discrepancy between the Septuagint and
Hebrew tally of the years of the Patriarchs. He was not even consistent
about whether the Sixth Age began at the Incarnation or with the inception
of Christ’s ministry.

It was Isidore of Seville who took the crucial step of fusing Augustine’s
numerological theology of history with Eusebius’s chronology. Isidore’s two
chronicles - a self-standing Chronicon and the chronicle incorporated into
Etymologies 5.29 - constitute the hrst Christian world-history to begin with
Creation and to lay out the past in six aetates duly dated according to the
annus mundi. Isidore’s chronology was based, like Eusebius’s, on the Septu¬
agint. He organized the first three ages according to the generations of the
Hebrew Patriarchs, and then according to the reigns of the judges and kings
of Israel. After the fall of the Jewish kingdom, the chronological framework
was supplied by the kingdoms which ruled over Judea - Macedon, Ptole¬
maic Egypt, and Rome. He dated reigns according to their closing year (not
their inception), and also fixed the beginning of the Sixth Age definitively
at Christ’s birth. All these features, and much of the substance of Isidore’s
chronicles, were taken over by Bede in On Times.

Bede nonetheless made two very significant changes. Eirst, he stripped
out Isidore’s chronological marker dates. The result is that Bede’s chronicle
provides a sequence of the events in each age, and in some cases the duration
of those events (notably the length of reigns), but it avoids explicit dating.
Given that Bede re-inserted Isidorean marker dates in the revised version
of the Chronicle in The Reckoning of Time 66, their omission in On Times
may be connected with Bede’s other great alteration to Isidore. Bede set
aside the Septuagint dating of Eusebius and Isidore, and substituted his own
innovative chronology, based on the ‘Hebrew’ account of the first two Ages
found in Jerome’s Vulgate translation of the Bible. The Septuagint assigned
two thousand two hundred and forty-two years to the First Age (Adam to
Noah); Bede and Jerome calculated only one thousand six hundred and fifty-
six. Bede likewise reduced the Second Age (Noah to Abraham) from nine
hundred and forty-two to two hundred and ninety-two years. The result was
to shave more than one thousand two hundred years from the total age of
the world to date, and to reposition Christ’s birth at AM 3952. And in fact,
the only point at which Bede provides an explicit annus mundi date within
the Chronicle is at the birth of Christ.

None of this would have caused any controversy had it not been for
the notion that because the six World-Ages corresponded to the six days of
creation, each Age must be one thousand years in length. This assumption

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rested on 2 Peter 3:8 (echoing Psalm 90:4): ‘with the Lord one day is a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day’. Bede’s ages were not
each one thousand years long, but then, neither were Isidore’s. However, by
dating Christ’s birth to AM 5196, Isidore at least put the beginning of the
sixth World-Age close to the start of the sixth millennium. For Bede, as for
others, this raised a serious problem. If the sixth World-Age were destined to
last one thousand years and its beginning were known, it would be possible
to predict precisely when it would end. Moreover, it was scheduled to end
fairly soon - about AD 800 to be precise. But Christ himself forbade such
speculation - indeed, he claimed that even he did not know when the End
would come; only the Father knows that (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32; cf. Acts
1:7). Before Bede, several writers had attempted to defuse such apocalyptic
speculation by tinkering with the Eusebian annus mundi chronology to
postpone the millennium. Bede took a more radical approach by uncou¬
pling the six World-Ages from a Septuagint annus mundi chronology that
implicitly supported the thousand-year world-age theory. The consequence
was that a few years later, at a banquet hosted by Bishop Wilfrid, someone
publicly accused Bede of heresy with respect to this chronology. Bede would
respond, in the first instance, with the Letter to Plegwim, later he would
restate and reinforce his revisionist chronology in ch. 66 of The Reckoning
of Time. Despite the protests of all of these scholars, the Six Ages continued
to be associated with millenarian thought.^’ Still, Bede’s orthodox formula¬
tion did much to dampen millenarian speculation in the Carolingian period
and beyond.®*

BEDE’S SCIENCE: CONTINUITIES AND NEW DIRECTIONS

On the Nature of Things and On Times are important for our understanding
of some of Bede’s most ambitious and original writing. His commentary on
the opening chapters of Genesis,®® on which he laboured for many years,
contains profound and original reflections on the creation of the universe,
and on the structure and spiritual meaning of time (e.g., in his exegesis
of the story of Noah). Issues surrounding nature and time are woven into
other works by Bede as well, for example his innovative exegetical writings

97 Cf. Jones, Saints'Lives, p. 25.

98 Landes, "’Lest the Millennium Be Fulfilled’”, p. 176.

99 In Gen., ed. Jones, CCSL 118A; trans. Kendall. On Genesis.

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INTRODUCTION

on the Tabernacle and the Temple.'®® The interest in time-reckoning which
On Times stimulated and the shocking accusation of heresy that Bede had
to face over the world-ages chronology led directly to The Reckoning of
Time and the computistical letters. In The Reckoning of Time Bede re-united
cosmology and time-reckoning to form a unified science of computus that
would become the framework for Carolingian and Scholastic basic scientific
education.

Bede’s achievement as a student of what we can, for the sake of conve¬
nience, call ‘science’ has recently received renewed attention in Anglo-
American and German scholarship. On a wider stage, Herve Inglebert’s
Interpretatio Christiana provides a stimulating framework for considering
Bede’s role in the process of adapting ancient cosmology and geography to
a Christian doctrina that had a distinctively un-classical approach to time
and history. Moreover, re-assessments of medieval science by Edward Grant
and others make the case that theology and creative scientific thinking were
mutually dependent, and neither alien nor hostile to one another.'®' These
new trends in scholarship add to the interest of On the Nature of Things
and On Times. Bede presented himself as a teacher to his people and his
age, and these two short works show him selecting, editing, and clarifying
a mass of difficult and sometimes dangerous material. He insisted that his
reader understand the mathematical and physical basis of time, and though
he was dependent on his textual sources, he also included observations of his
own. But Bede is also a Christian exegete who thought deeply and earnestly
about how salvation-history connected to natural history and the history of
the peoples of the earth. To comprehend his religious mentality, we have to
take on board his views on ‘science’ - and vice versa.'®^

Another domain in which Bede’s work as a computist exerted a parti¬
cularly significant influence is early medieval ‘numeracy’.'®® Bede’s compe¬
tence as a mathematician is under-appreciated, partly because it takes an
effort of the imagination to realize just how remarkable this competence
was. Mathematics was for him not a science, but a tool for calculating the
duration of relative movements of the sun, the moon and the stars. The opera-

100 De tabernaculo, ed. Hurst, CCSL 119A; trans. Holder, De templo, ed. Hurst, CCSL
119A; trans. Connolly.

101 Ingelbert, Interpretatio Christiana, esp. ch. 1; Grant, God and Reason in the Middle
Ages.

102 The dialogue between ‘science’ and theology in ONT and OT forms much of the burden
of our commentaiy on these texts. For an overview of Bede’s conception of nature and knowl¬
edge about nature (‘science’) see Wallis, 'Si Naturam Quaeras' and ‘Bede and Science’.

103 See the perceptive comments of Contreni, ‘Counting, Calendars, and Cosmology’.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

tions involved did not go beyond simple addition, subtraction, multiplica¬
tion and division, and the use of fractions. He knew nothing of the higher
mathematics of Antiquity, and he made no advances in arithmetic that could
be passed on to the future. So, what is there to remark? A general observa¬
tion may help to set the stage. Alexander Murray describes the four to five
centuries before the year 1000 as a ‘dark age’ of mathematics. Numeracy
was rare and confined to the Church. However elementary Bede’s skills may
seem to modern eyes, he was the probably the most accomplished mathema¬
tician of western Europe in this long period.*®'^ The Easter controversy, which
demanded mathematical reasoning, was largely responsible. Theodore and
Hadrian inaugurated the study of ‘ecclesiastical arithmetic’ in the schools of
Canterbury in the 670s. In a broad sense, they may be considered refugees
from the spread of Islam, and Murray hazards the guess that they imported
the mathematical skills of the Near East, Egypt and Syria, among other disci¬
plines, to southern England. But even before their arrival in England, they
had been in Rome when Benedict Biscop and Wilfrid made their first visits
there. Wilfrid studied Roman methods for calculating Easter, which may
have owed something to Theodore’s studies of the computus in Constan¬
tinople, and vigorously supported them at the synod of Whitby in 664.'®^
The few men who studied arithmetic in this five-hundred-year period
invariably complained of its difficulty: Aldhelm is an example. And they
seem invariably to have studied it as adults.Bede is, apparently, an excep¬
tion to both generalizations. He never complains about the difficulty of
mastering arithmetic. Indeed, he seems pretty much to take it for granted
as a quite unremarkable, but useful, tool. And, he evidently studied it as
a boy because he issued his first sure-footed textbook on the computus at
about the age of thirty, doubtless after teaching the subject for much of
the previous decade. Ceolfrith, who was one of his teachers as a boy, had
been to Rome on one occasion with Benedict Biscop and was a protege of
Wilfrid’s at Ripon. There is some dispute as to whether he was really the
author of the Letter to Nechtan, a lucid exposition of the Easter controversy
from the ‘Roman’ perspective, which Bede inserted under his name into the
Ecclesiastical History But it is clear evidence that he was considered an
authority on the computus, and he may have been the master who taught
Bede arithmetic as a boy.

104 yiuniiy. Reason and Society, 141-61.

105 Bede, E//3.25.

106 Murray, Reason and Society, pp. 148 and 152.

107 Bede, E//5.21.

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INTRODUCTION

What aids to calculation Bede may have learned from Ceolfrith or others
we do not know. Two systems of representing numbers were in general
use: Roman numerals and Greek letters. There is no evidence that Greek
letters were used for calculation. As well as being particularly liable to be
miscopied, Roman numerals, lacking a one-to-one correspondence between
integers and place-values, are notoriously clumsy to calculate with.'®* Bede
may have had access to some short cuts to calculation, but we have no
idea what they might have been. The system of finger-calculation that he
describes in the first chapter of The Reckoning of Time strikes a modern reader
as more ingenious than useful. Similarly, his account in chapter 4 of ‘The
Reckoning of Duodecimal Fractions’ does not advance much beyond the
naming of parts. The abacus, the ‘high-speed’ calculator of Antiquity, seems
to have been forgotten until the time of Gerbert in the late tenth century.'®®
Despite these handicaps, Bede could solve a complex arithmetical problem
with seeming ease and without bothering to say how he did so, and then
devise simple algorithms to enable his readers to replicate the results without
having to perform any difficult operations. A prime example is chapter 21
of On the Nature of Things, which he titled: ‘Method for Determining the
Course of the Moon through the Signs of the Zodiac’. We attempt to unpack
the computistical reasoning that underlies this chapter in Appendix 2.

THE TRANSMISSION OF ONT AND OT

Within a generation of his death, Bede’s works were in demand both in
England and on the Continent, and by the Carolingian period he had become
a recognized authority, whether as an exegete or as a schoolmaster, to be
named in the same breath with the Fathers of the Church - Ambrose, Augus¬
tine, Jerome, and Gregory.

For reasons that have already been hinted at,"® the transmission history
of On the Nature of Things and On Times cannot be properly understood
without taking the history of The Reckoning of Time into account as well. In
the Preface to the latter work, Bede remarks:

108 On the difficulty of performing calculations with Roman numerals, see Wallis, The
Reckoning of Time, pp. 254—63. As Murray, Reason and Society, p. 163, says, ‘Roman numerals
manifested and partly occasioned the paralysis of early medieval arithmetic’.

109 Murray, Reason and Society, p. 163. Stevens, ‘Scientific Instruction’, p. 97, finds
evidence for the abacus in Aldhelm’s use of the term calculi, but it seems more likely to be an
abstract reference to arithmetic or calculation than a specific one to a counting board.

110 See above, pp. 4-5.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

Some time ago I wrote two short books in a summary style which were, I
judged, necessary for my students; these concerned the nature of things, and
the reckoning of time. When I undertook to present and explain them to some
of my brethren, they said that they were much more concise than they would
have wished, especially the book on time, which was, it seems, rather more in
demand because of the calculation of Easter. So they persuaded me to discuss
certain matters concerning the nature, course, and end of time at greater length.
I yielded to their enthusiasm, and after surveying the writings of the venerable
Fathers, I wrote a longer book on time.'"

Insofar as The Reckoning of Time was regarded as an enlarged revision of
On Times''^ it tended to take the place of the earlier work, and hy the same
token, since On the Nature of Things and On Times were conceived of as
companion texts, in the absence of On Times, On the Nature of Things tended
to be transmitted along with its ‘replacement’, The Reckoning of Time.

Keeping these relationships in mind, it is instructive first of all to look at
figures compiled by Joshua Westgard. Surveying the surviving manuscripts
of all Bede’s works from the eighth through the fifteenth century, Westgard
finds that The Reckoning of Time with 146 manuscripts is second only to the
Ecclesiastical History (158) in total numbers, while On the Nature of Things
is fourth with 113 and On Times is thirteenth with 67.On the evidence
of survivals, Bede’s most widely copied book of Biblical exegesis was his
Commentary on the Catholic Epistles with 114 manuscripts, well short of
the Ecclesiastical History and The Reckoning of Time. The twelfth century
appears to be the high-water mark in the popularity of Bede’s works; after
that time there is a marked decline in the numbers of copies that were made
of many of them."^ If we confine our aftention to the first five cenfuries
(eighfh-fwelffh), an even more remarkable pattern emerges. The Reckoning
of Time leads the list with 130 manuscripts. On the Nature of Things is
second with 95.5."*’ The Ecclesiastical History drops to third with 92. And

111 Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 3.

112 In the MSS, The Reckoning of Time {De temporum ratione) is often entitled Liber de
temporibus maior to distinguish it from its predecessor On Times {Liber de temporibus).

113 Westgard, ‘Bede and the Continent in the Carolingian Age and Beyond’, pp. 206-11,
and table 1.

114 Westgard excludes epitomes and extracts, which accounts for the difference between
his figures for ONT and OT and ours.

115 A notable exception is Bede’s textbook. The Art of Poetry and Rhetoric, which seems
to have fallen out of favour in the twelfth centuiy but otherwise continued to be copied at a
steady rate right up to the Renaissance.

116 Westgard, p. 210, explains that ‘[cjomposite manuscripts with parts originating in

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INTRODUCTION

On Times rises to tenth with 62. That is, for the first five centuries after
their composition, up to and including the century when copying of his
works was at its peak, Bede’s textbooks on time and on natural history
were in greater demand than anything else he wrote (always with the caveat
that the accidents of survival and in particular the loss and destruction of
manuscripts in the Anglo-Saxon period in England have inevitably distorted
the picture that we see).

Insular manuscripts of these texts are both comparatively few (less than
one in ten) and almost entirely post-Conquest, and in most cases can be
shown to derive from French exemplars"’ - clear evidence that English
monastic libraries were obliged to re-import them from abroad to make up
for the attrition caused by the wear and tear of constant use as well as the
destruction wrought by the Viking invasions of the previous centuries."® In
all, thirteen Insular manuscripts of On the Nature of Things {DNR, nos. 7,
19, 21, 23, 43-46, 69, 71-72, 75, and 105) and nine or ten of On Times (DT,
nos. 29 [?], 30, 32-33, 37, 39, 51-53, and 55) survive."^ The only poten¬
tial witness to the survival of a pre-Viking age manuscript of either text in
England is the text of On Times in Oxford, St John’s College 17 (DNR, no.
75/Dr, no. 55).*’°

We have already noted that On the Nature of Things is immediately
followed in surviving manuscripts by On Times 56 times; the reverse order

different centuries and those dated around the turn of a century have been divided equally
between the centuries in question’. Hence, the fractional number.

117 Jones, CCSL 123A, 184 (referring specifically to DNR).

118 Beeson, ‘The Manuscripts of Bede’, p. 73.

119 Manuscripts held in British libraries ai‘e as likely to be Continental in origin as Insular;
in the absence of some stated provenance they cannot be assumed to be Insular, and are not
so-counted. Manuscripts in Continental libraries on the other hand ai‘e almost certainly Conti¬
nental, even if nothing more is known of their origins.

120 St John’s 17 was written entirely at Thorney Abbey, between 1102 and 1110. However,
the text traditions of ONT and OT in that manuscript are different. Both ONT and De temporum
mtione in St John’s 17 are related to the French family of texts associated with Abbo of Fleury. St
John’s 17’s text of OF, on the other hand, belongs to a more archaic recension, most exemplars
of which hail from southern Germany and Switzerland. These Continental manuscripts
ultimately depend on Karlsruhe 167 (s. ix^) {our DNR, no. Jb/DF, no. 22) or its exemplar, which
may have come directly from the British Isles. St John’s 17’s exemplar may have migrated
back to Britain from Germany, for its text is in close agreement with both Karlsruhe 167 and
its putative twin, St Gall 250; however, it is also possible that it came from an ancient English
codex which never left the islands, and which somehow survived the depredations of the Viking
years. DNR, no. 43, and DT, nos. 30 and 37, each contain a single chapter only, and may never
have been part of complete texts.

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On TimeslOn the Nature of Things occurs only three times.The attrition
of On Times that we mentioned above, caused by The Reckoning of Time,
is significant, though not overwhelming. Apparently Bede’s reputation was
enough to insure that On Times was not necessarily neglected even when
The Reckoning of Time was available. The two works on time often travel
together. Of the 59 manuscripts with ONT and OT in either order, 45 also
carry The Reckoning of Time. Still, The Reckoning of Time is found with On
the Nature of Things in 22 manuscripts that lack On Times.

It is instructive to compare the provenance of manuscripts of the eighth
and ninth centuries with those of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In the
eighth and ninth centuries we can discern a dissemination of manuscripts
from England across the North Sea in a broad arc across northern Erance
and the Lowlands and then bending toward the south into Burgundy and
the Rhineland, Bavaria, and Switzerland and on into northern Italy. In the
broad band of the arc are the great abbeys and ecclesiastical centres of the
Carolingian Empire - St-Amand, Corbie, St-Quentin, Metz, Trier, Cologne,
Mainz, Lorsch. On the outer periphery along the fringes of the Empire are
the abbeys founded, in some cases, by Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries
- Corvey, Fulda, St Emmeram’s (Regensburg), Reichenau, St Gall and
Einsiedeln. A lesser stream may be noticed in north-central France, flowing
across the Channel into Normandy and Brittany and then inland up the Seine
and the Loire - Jumieges, St-Germain, and Auxerre; St-Aubin (Angers),
Tours, Fleury, and Nevers. Based on 11 variants, which he analysed in 37
manuscripts, Jones postulates two distinct recensions of On Times, both of
which may have originated in Northumbria (though the earliest exemplars
are Continental). One can be traced as far back as a manuscript from north¬
eastern France, Karlsruhe 167 (our DT, no. 22), which is perhaps at one
remove from the British Isles. Apparently directly descended from it are four
St-Gall manuscripts from the ninth and tenth centuries (our DT, nos. 77-78,
106,110), two eleventh-century manuscripts from Italy and Bavaria (ourDT,
nos. 43, 48) and a single twelfth-century English manuscript from Thorney
(our DT, no. 55). The other recension survives in French manuscripts of
the ninth through the eleventh centuries (our DT, nos. 5, 21, 35, 50, 56,
63, 90). Then in the twelfth century and after, French manuscripts of this
recension apparently provide the exemplars for most of the copies made in
England (our DT, nos. 32-33, 39, 51). The remaining manuscripts that Jones

121 Above, p. 5.

122 Two of these manuscripts, however, include the shorter chronicle from On Times.

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INTRODUCTION

examined comprise a third ‘mixed’ recension.

Copying of manuscripts of On the Nature of Things and On Times went
on all over western Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries from Ripoll
in the Spanish Pyrenees to Melk on the Danube in eastern Austria, from
Tortona in the Po Valley to the Ahhaye de Lyre in Normandy. There is very
little overlap with the provenance of eighth- and ninth-century manuscripts
and no pronounced geographical lines of distribution. In some cases copying
can be explained by the need of new foundations to build up their collections
(Citeaux, Priifening, St Michael’s of Hildesheim); in others the motivation
for copying may have been more a matter of filling gaps and replacing
worn-out or destroyed codices (Winchcombe, Malmesbury, Thorney). But
whatever the immediate impetus, the overall picture remains clear - Bede’s
works on nature and time were and remained authoritative texts everywhere
in western Europe right through the twelfth century.

Nor did they disappear from view after that time, although demand for
them fell off. They continued to be copied at a slower rate right up to the
age of printing. Seven printed editions of On the Nature of Things and of On
Times (two without the shorter chronicle) appeared between the sixteenth
and the twentieth centuries; two editions of the shorter chronicle alone, in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

THE RECEPTION OF ONT AND OT: GLOSSES AND EXCERPTS

The principal immediate zone of reception of On the Nature of Things and
On Times was Carolingian Europe. The impact of the two texts, and particu¬
larly of ONT, peaked in the ninth century. It can be traced not only through
the production of manuscripts, but through two complementary activities
of processing and assimilating these texts for teaching and study: glossing
and excerpting. Excerpting digests a text by selecting elements deemed
particularly useful or pertinent, while glossing amplifies the impact of a
text not only by explaining it, but also by linking it to other contexts, such
as religious symbolism. In both cases, ONT proved to be a more successful
and valued text than OT. In its glossed form it garnered additional atten¬
tion and prestige by being yoked to Bede’s highly successful De temporum
ratione. Some of the more important gloss families, such as the Laon-Metz
glosses preserved in Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Phillipps 1832 (our DAT?, no.
lO/DT, no. 6), cover both works, and in Hervagius’s 1563 printed edition,

123 Jones, BOT, pp. 161-64.

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glosses once belonging to ONT were borrowed to fill in cognate sections of
De temporum mtione. Nonetheless, the glossing tradition of ONT follows a
different trajectory than does that of De temporum ratione.

The first, and to date still the fullest and most useful overview of the
ONT glosses produced in the Carolingian period is the 1961 Yale doctoral
dissertation of Frances Randall Lipp, ‘The Carolingian Commentaries on
Bede’s De natura rerum’. Lipp identified four principal families of glosses
dispersed through manuscripts and (in the case of the ‘B glosses’ (i.e., the
glosses by Byrhtferth of Ramsey and the ‘Incerti auctoris glossae’) Herva-
gius’s 1563 edition of Bede and its later reprintings. Each of these families
illustrates a distinctive approach to Bede’s text.

The EG group is represented by Vatican City, B.A.V., Reg. lat. 1260
(Lipp’s MS F; our DNR, no. 125), s. ix, Fleury, and Paris, B.N. nouv. acq.
lat. 1615 (Lipp’s MS G; our DNR, no. 95), s. ix, Auxerre or Fleury. The
goal of the EG glosses is to clarify: they are overwhelmingly interlinear
lexical and syntactic explanations. In addition, both codices contain ‘graphic
glosses’, such as a wind rose to supplement chapter 10. The Vatican codex
also includes a diagram showing the relative positions of the sun, the moon
and earth during a solar and a lunar eclipse; and Paris contains a schematic
map. Moreover, some of the Tironian glosses in Paris seem to refer to other
illustrations not included in this copy. Bede’s policy of banishing illustra¬
tions from his re-working of Isidore’s DNR was evidently reversed by his
glossators; furthermore, the Tironian glosses indicate that the EG glosses
were drawing on a more extensive commentary.

This is also the pattern exhibited by Lipp’s AC family, better known as
the Laon-Metz glosses. In Jones’s Corpus christianorum edition of On the
Nature of Things, Lipp’s edition of the glosses from Berlin, Staatsbiblio-
thek, Phillipps 1832, ca. 873 (Lipp’s MS A; our DNR, no. 10), appears as a
separate apparatus. John J. Contreni has established that this manuscript was
without question written in Laon, though it later resided in Metz. The hand
of Laon’s famous scholasticus Martin the Irishman can be seen in correc¬
tions to the text and glosses of On the Nature of Things. However, unlike
the DTR glosses in this codex, the glosses of On the Nature of Things were
not composed at Laon, but selectively copied from a pre-existing source.

The Laon commentary on ONT, unlike the EG family, aims to expand
and expound on Bede’s text. It is very ample - half again as long as the text
itself - and ‘very nearly constitutes a treatise on cosmology and astronomy

124 Contreni, ‘Bede’s Scientific Works’, pp. 249-51; Contreni, The Cathedral School of
Laofi, pp. 124-26; Lipp, ‘The Carolingian Commentaries’, pp. 49-50.

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INTRODUCTION

in its own right’.The commentator was an able scholar and a dedicated
teacher who liked to construct glosses in question-and-answer format. He
expended considerable effort to fill the gaps in Bede’s often brief and general
statements, adding information from sources unknown to Bede, such as
Martianus and Macrobius, and indicating where Bede and these authorities
differed. He also showed a predilection for explanations that rationalize
the workings of nature - for example, he disagrees with Bede that we are
obliged to take the ‘waters above the firmament’ literally iONT 8). Lipp
concludes that he was strongly infiuenced by John Scottus Eriugena, and
possibly associated with a centre like Reims, Laon or Auxerre.'^® He wrote
in a straightforward and accessible manner, assuming little background
knowledge on the part of his student readers. This glossator’s work was
incorporated almost in its entirely into Byrhtferth’s glosses (see below), and
was used extensively by the two other manuscripts, Amiens 222 (Lipp’s MS
Ca; our DNR, no. 3), s. ix, northeastern France, and Paris, B.N. nouv. acq.
lat. 1632 (Lipp’s MS Cp; our DNR, no. 96) s. ix, Fleury. Moreover, both
these two manuscripts and Byrhtferth appear to have borrowed from the
Laon glosses via intermediaries, which suggests that the Laon glosses were
quite widely diffused.'^’

The HI group comprises Milan, Ambrosiana D 48 inf. (Lipp’s MS H; our
DNR, no. 60), s. xi, Tortona, and Vatican City, B.A.V., Vat. lat. 644 (Lipp’s
MS I; our DNR, no. 130) s. x, St. Gall. The Milan version of the glosses
was probably composed in the later ninth or early tenth century; Lipp argues
that it represents a selection from the vastly longer St Gall recension. These
glosses also aim to expand Bede’s text: however, the level of scientific knowl¬
edge is much lower than in the Laon glosses, and there is a marked tendency
to dilate on religious and moral observations. The HI glosses were exploited
heavily by a fourth family, which Lipp calls B, and which survive only in
printed form. The B commentaries comprise the Byrhtferth glosses*^* printed
in Hervagius’s 1563 edition of Bede’s works, plus the glosses Hervagius

125 Lipp, The Carolingian Commentaries’, p. 46.

126 Lipp, The Carolingian Commentaries’, pp. 78-79.

127 Lipp, The Carolingian Commentaries’, pp. 46—47.

128 Hervagius ascribed these glosses to the English computist Byrhtferth of Ramsey, who
flourished in the final decades of the tenth century and the early years of the eleventh. Byrht¬
ferth’s authorship of the glosses was challenged by Jones, The Byrhtferth Glosses’, because
large portions of the glosses could be found in ninth-century glosses. The issue is currently
in dispute. Gorman, The Glosses on Bede’s De temporum rationed and Lapidge, ‘Byrhtferth
of Ramsey’, ai'gue in favour of Byrhtferth’s authorship; Contreni, ‘Bede’s Scientific Works’, and
personal communication, against.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

called Incerti auctoris glossae}^^ The former were allegedly composed by
the English computist, historian and hagiographer Byrhtferth of Ramsey
(fl. ca. 986-ca. 1020), and so are post-Carolingian, but they illustrate the
diffusion and creative adaptation of the Carolingian glossing tradition. They
are also of considerable intrinsic interest, and will be referred to frequently
in the notes and commentary of this translation. The Byrhtferth glosses on
ONT comprise not only the glosses accompanying this text (which we refer
to as BDNR) but also some that were transposed into the glosses on De
temporum ratione (BDTR).'^® While the Byrhtferth glosses on De temporum
ratione seem closely connected to Heiric and Remigius of Auxerre, the ONT
glosses compile materials from the earlier independent traditions enumer¬
ated above: the Laon glosses, the EG group (especially in the form found in
the Paris manuscript) and the St Gall branch of the HI family, with its strong
interest in religious, and to some degree computistical themes.'^' The Incerti
auctoris glossae also exhibit this pronounced religious orientation, usually
by appending an allegorical interpretation to a natural explanation.

There are in addition at least four significant commentaries on ONT
which lie outside any affiliation. These are the glosses in Tironian notes in
Melk 412 (our DNR, no. 59) by Heiric of Auxerre, the Latin and Old Irish
glosses in Karlsruhe 167 (our DNR, no. 36),'^^ the glosses in Paris, B.N.
lat. 5543 (our DNR, no. 83; AD 847, Eleury), largely confined to the first
ten chapters of Bede’s text, and the Old Breton glosses in Angers 477 (our
DNR, no. 5).

From their ninth-century high-water mark of eight manuscripts, glossed
codices of ONT drop off steeply in number. There is a slight revival in the
eleventh century (three manuscripts) and in the twelfth century, notably in
England, but nothing thereafter. On the other hand, re-cycling ONT in the
form of extracts was a much more sustained activity. While there is evidence
that ONT was exploited by authors of particular Carolingian texts, notably

129 Hervagius also prints a Vetus commentarius and scholia, which he took over from
Noviomagus’s edition. The Vetus commentarius comes from a MS associated with Abbo of
Fleury (p. 192, n. 7 - see van de Vyver, ‘Les oeuvres inedits d’Abbon de Fleuiy’, p. 150 sq.).
Noviomagus divided it up to serve as a commentary on DNR and on parts of DTR and DT. The
Incerti auctoris glossae gloss the prefatory verses and all or part of 15 chapters.

130 For a list of these displaced glosses, see Lipp, ‘The Carolingian Commentaries’, pp.
199-200.

131 Lipp, ‘The Carolingian Commentaries’, pp. 195, 205-6; Contreni, ‘Bede’s Scientific
Writings’, p. 258.

132 Published by Stokes and John Strachan, Thesaurus Paleohibernicus 2, 10-13; analysed
by Killion, ‘Bede’s Irish Legacy’, pp. 125—41.

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INTRODUCTION

the astronomical text known as Aratus latinus,^^^ it was the encyclopaedic
compilations of cosmology, astronomy and computus that set the fashion
for excerpting Bede.

The creation of integrated anthologies of computus lore was one of the
signal achievements of the Carolingian period and later.These antholo¬
gies were characterised by the arrangement of excerpts from different
sources into new structures, formally organized into books and chapters
(though these were not always ‘canonized’ and were subject to constant
re-working and revision).Bede’s scientific writings were heavily mined
for these productions, but in terms of the two texts under consideration here,
ONT was much more prominent than OT. The absorption of ONT in toto
into the seven-book ‘Aachen Computus Encyclopaedia of 809’ (where it
forms the first part of book 7) signals an interest in expanding computus to
encompass more and more astronomical and cosmological content.'^® More
commonly, however, individual chapters of ONT were lifted out of their
original context and inserted into fresh compilations of cosmography and
computus. For example, Vatican City, B.A.V. Vat. lat. 5530 (AD 896; our
DNR, no. 132) contains chapters 1-3 of ONT excerpted into a computistical
compilation of 180 chapters.

The trend continued well into the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In
Vatican City, B.A.V, Reg. lat. 123 (A.D. 1056; our DNR, no. 121), Abbot
Oliva of Ripoll, perhaps inspired by Carolingian models, created an encyclo¬
paedia of computus, cosmology and astronomy in four books, using DTR
interlarded with chapters of ONT, as well as extracts from Hyginus, Isidore,
Pliny and others.'” Oxford, Bodleian Library, Canon lat. 560 (s. xi), fols.
4v-24 (our DVR, no. 70), pulls apart the text of ONT and in some cases abbre¬
viates it, assembling it in a very different order. Chapters on the universe as
a whole and the upper heavens (1-9) are succeeded by sections on lightning
(ch. 19), eclipses (chs. 22-23), weather signs (ch. 36), and the stars, celestial
zones, zodiac, moon and planets (chs. 11, 10, 16, 20, 12-13, 15, 14). The
realm of air (ch. 15) is joined to the chapters on meteorological phenomena
(chs. 28-35, 37). By contrast, only two chapters about earth are included,
one of the sphericity of the planet (ch. 46) and a second on earthquakes.

133 King, ‘An unreported early use of Bede’s De natura reriini’.

134 BoTst, Schriften, pp. \46 sqq.

135 Borst, Schriften, pp. 182-86.

136 Borst, Schriften, pp. 1054-86,1321-22; Borst, ‘Alcuin und die Enzyklopadie von 809’.

137 For a detailed survey of the contents of this manuscript, see Puigvert, ‘El manuscrito
Vat. reg. Lat. 123’.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

These are followed by five chapters on waters (38,40-43). A twelfth-century
English codex, Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery 73 (our DNR, no. 7), made
a more restricted selection of chapters from ONT, filling in with extracts
from Bede’s sources, Isidore and Pliny (a not unusual practice).'^® Quite the
opposite approach was adopted by the compilers of Paris, B.N. lat. 7418 (our
DNR, no. 87): in this case, ONT was ‘exploded’ into a 98-chapter augmented
version by interleaving additional material from Isidore’s Etymologies. In
sum, to a significant degree ONT was transmitted in partial or modified form
through extracts and re-arrangements. Indeed, of all Bede’s works, ONT
seems to have been the one most subjected to this kind of re-processing.

PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THIS TRANSLATION

These are the first English translations of Bede’s On the Nature of Things
and On Times to appear in print. Eor our translation of On the Nature of
Things (De natura rerum), we used the text edited by Charles W. Jones
in CCSL 123A, 189-234. For On Times {De temporibus), chs. 1-16, we
used the text prepared by Jones in his Bedae opera de temporibus, pp.
293-303, and for On Times, chs. 17-22, the edition of Theodore Mommsen,
published in Chronica minora 3 (MGH: AA 13), 223-354; these two texts
have been reprinted without change in CCSL 123C, 579-611. Throughout,
we have consulted the printed editions of Giles and Migne and the on-line
reproductions of St-Gall MSS 248 and 251. All our departures in trans¬
lation from the printed texts of Jones and Mommsen are signalled with
supporting evidence in the notes. Page references to the CCSL editions
are inserted in bold between virgules for the convenience of readers who
wish to consult the original Latin. For the most part, we have followed
the principles and procedures enunciated by each of us separately in our
previous translations in the Liverpool University Press series ‘Translated
Texts for Historians’.*^* Our aim has been to render Bede’s text as faithfully
as possible while conforming to the conventions of modern English word
order and style. Technical terms that have no precise English equivalent
(e.g., bes, computus, momentum, punctus) are retained in their Latin form
with explanations as appropriate. Unlike the prose in his historical works
and biblical commentaries, Bede’s Latin in these treatises is sometimes

138 Bober, ‘An Illustrated Medieval School-Book’.

139 See Wallis, Bede: The Reckoning of Time, pp. xcix-ci; Kendall, Bede: On Genesis,
pp. 53-57.

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INTRODUCTION

elliptical (though rarely to the point of obscurity).'"^'’ In such cases we
typically expand silently to avoid as much as possible the use of intru¬
sive square brackets. Jones and Mommsen thoroughly investigated Bede’s
sources, and we have needed to make only a few corrections and additions
to their identification of verbatim borrowings. We follow Jones’s practice
of italicizing such quotations. However, the value of his other hndings with
respect to possible sources and parallels varies considerably, and of these
we have made only limited and selective use.

INVENTORY OF MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS
OF BEDE’S OAT AND OT

Our inventory is intended to gather together and collate information about
the manuscripts and editions of Bede’s On the Nature of Things and On
Times that is at present scattered and in part out of date.'"^' Sources consulted
include: Beeson, ‘The Manuscripts of Bede’; Bischoff, Katalog', Borst,
Schriften', Gameson, Manuscripts', Gneuss, Handlist, HMML; Jones, CCSL
123A, 174-84 [DNR], and CCSL 123C, 580-83 [DT]', Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s
DAR’; Jones, UP, pp. 111^0; Jones, PCr, pp. 161-67; Jones, CCSL 123B,
242-56; Jordanus', Laistner, Hand-List, pp. 139-48; Lowe, CLA; Medieval
Manuscripts in Dutch Collections', Mommsen, CM 3 (MGH: AA 13),
223-354; Mostert, The Library ofFleury, Rep. Chron.', Stevens, Appendix I;
and information supplied by Joshua Westgard. Manuscript depositories are
cited in the form given in Kristeller, Latin Manuscript Books before 1600.

For each MS we indicate whether it contains any or all of Bede’s related
writings, including De temporum ratione (DTR). DNR = De natura rerum',
DT = De temporibus', DT chronicle = the chronica minora of DT alone. The
writings are listed in the order they appear in the MSS. A virgule (/) between
items means they follow each other consecutively in the MS (e.g., DAP/D7);
a plus sign (H-) indicates that a gap of more than one page separates the two
(e.g., DTR ■¥ DT). Where the order is unknown to us, only the additional item
is listed, with the plus sign (e.g., ■¥ DTR). Manuscripts personally examined
by Faith Wallis are indicated by an asterisk.

140 On Bede’s style in these early treatises, see the perceptive remarks of Richard Sharpe,
The Varieties of Bede’s Prose’, esp. pp. 352-53.

141 For the puiposes of this inventory, we find it convenient to refer to Bede’s works by
the initials of their Latin titles: DNR {De natura rerum) = On the Nature of Things', DT {De
temporibus) = On Times', DTR {De temporum ratione) = The Reckoning of Time.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

Sigla from the editions of Jones and Mommsen are added in bold for
MSS to which we make reference in our textual notes. In addition, we have
examined the on-line (‘e-codices, Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland’
<http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch>) reproductions of St Gall 248 and 251.
For Bede’s On the Nature of Things, the sigla are:

A (Jones), Melk 412
C (Jones), Amiens 222
G (Jones, also KendallAVallis), St Gall 251
L (Jones), Vatican, Pal. lat. 1449
M (Jones), Berlin 130
N (Jones), Paris, B.N., N.a.l. 1615
Sg (Kendall/Wallis), St Gall 248
S'" (Jones), Vienna, Nationalbibliothek 387

For Bede’s On Times, chs. 1-16, they are:

B (Jones), Berlin 128
K (Jones), Karlsruhe, Aug. perg. 167
O (Jones), Oxford, Bodl. Libr., Auct. F 3 14
S (Jones), St Gall 250
Sg (Kendall/Wallis), St Gall 248
Z (Jones), Oxford, St John’s College 17

For Bede’s On Times, chs. 17-22, they are:

E (Mommsen), Einsiedeln 167
F (Mommsen), Berlin 128
H (Mommsen, also Kendall/Wallis), St Gall 251
M (Mommsen), Paris, B.N. 4860
P (Mommsen), Vatican, Pal. lat. 1448
Sg (Kendall/Wallis), St Gall 248

MANUSCRIPTS OF BEDE’S DE NATURA RERUM

1. ABERYSTWYTH, National Library of Wales Peniarth 540, two bifolia,
s. xii'. Chs. 27-48. Stevens, App. 1, p. 678.

2. ADMONT, Stiftsbibliothek 111, s. xi. H- DTR.

3. AMIENS, Bibliotheque Communale de la Ville 222, fols. 19-27, s. ix^'^
northeastern France. ‘Versus Bedae presbiteri’. Quatrain and capitula.
Heavy glosses. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ 431; Bischoff, Katalog,
no. 36. DT (incomplete; see below) -i- DTR + DNR. (C, Jones)

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INTRODUCTION

4. ANGERS, Bibliotheque municipale 476 (460), fols. 59''-66, s. ix^,
Brittany (Redon?); provenance St-Aubin. Jones, CCSL 123A, 174;
Bischoff, Katalog, no. 67. DTR + DNR.

5. ANGERS, Bibliotheque municipale All (461), fols. 10-18\ 897,
Brittany (Leon); provenance St-Aubin. With glosses, some in Breton
vernacular. See Lambert, ‘Les gloses en vieux-breton aux ecrits scien-
tifiques de Bede’. Bischoff, Katalog, no. 69. DNR/DT + DTR.

6. AUSTIN, University of Texas, Harry Ransom Humanities Research
Center, Phillipps 816, fols. 2''-ll'', s. xi, Niederaltaich, scribe: Abbot
Ellinger of Tegernsee (ca. 975-1056). Tncipit excerptum Bedae De
natural! historia Plinii’. With glosses. Jones, CCSL 123A, 175, 177.

7. BALTIMORE, Walters Art Gallery 73, fols. 1-9'', s. xii, English.
Excerpts, incorporated into a compilation on cosmology and computus,
from or based on DTR chs. 24, 12 and 2, and from the following chs.
of DNR: 16, 17, 19, 12, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 18, 23, 39, with figurae.
Jones, CCSL 123A, 175. Bober, ‘Illustrated Medieval Schoolbook’.
DNR (extracts) + DTR (extracts)?

*8. BAMBERG, Staatsbibliothek, Patr. 101 (B V 19), fols. 86-100", s.
ix/x, central Italy; provenance Bamberg, Dombibliothek. With glosses.
Bischoff, Katalog, no. 236. DNRIDT.

9. BERLIN, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Phillipps

1831 (Rose 128), fols. 91-99", s.ix in., Verona; provenance Metz. ‘Versus
baeda presbiteri’. Quatrain. ‘Capitula libri de naturis rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS
of Bede’s DNR’, p. 431. Bischoff, Katalog, no. 437. DTR + DNRIDT.

10. BERLIN, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Phillipps

1832 (Rose 130), fols. 1-9, ca. AD 873, Laon; provenance Metz (see
Contreni, ‘Bede’s Scientific Works’, pp. 249-51). Quatrain, ‘De natura
rerum capitula haec sunt’. ‘De quadrifario dei opere ex opusculis augus-
tini episcopi’. Heavy glosses. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 431;
Bischoff, Katalog, no. 436; DNRIDT DTR. (M, Jones)

11. BERN, Burgerbibliothek 285, fols. 99"-108", s. xii, Eleury? ‘Versus
bede presbiteri. in libro dae [iic] natura rerum’. Quatrain. No capitula.
Chs. not numbered. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 431; not listed in
Mostert, The Library of Fleury. DNRIDT.

*12. BERN, Burgerbibliothek 610, fols. 52"-69", s. ix^'\ vicinity of Tours.
No quatrain; no capitula. Chapters are numbered consecutively 14-65
(= DNR, chs. 1-51, with a discrepancy of one chapter), following chs.
1-13 only of DT. Bischoff, Katalog, no. 609; Mostert, The Library of
Fleury, p. 81 (BF221). DTIDNR + DTR.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

13. BESAN(^ON, Bibliotheque municipale 186, fols. 26-32, s. eastern
Erance (?). Incomplete; begins with ch. 8, and many pages illegible or
torn. Bischoff, Katalog, no. 627. DNR + DTR.

14. BORDEAUX, Bibliotheque municipale 11, fols. 198''-213, s. xii. La
Sauve. Jones, CCSL 123A, 175; chs. 1 and 2 only?, Laistner, p. 140.
But, according to Jones, CCSL 123B, 244, fols. 198''-213 are DTR.
Unconfirmed; possibly extracts only. + DTR.

15. BRUSSELS, Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler 9728-9734, fob 19T,
s. xiii, Ste-Rictrude de Marchiennes. Quatrain and list of capitula to
xxxvii only. Jones, CCSL 123A, 175. DNR quatrain and capitula + DT
capitula.

16. BRUSSELS, Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler 9837-9840 [1361], fols.
l''-8, s. xii, St Amand. ‘Item versus eiusdem bedae de sequenti opere’.
Quatrain. ‘Incipiunt capitula in libro de temporibus edito a venerabili
beda presbitero’. Capitula. ‘Incipit liber venerabilis Bedae presbiteri. de
natura rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 431. DNR/DT + DTR.

17. BRUSSELS, Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler 9932-9934 [1359], fols.
l''-12, s. xi, St Laurent, Liege. ‘Versus Bedae Presbiteri’. Quatrain and
capitula. Source attributions in titles. ‘Explicit liber de naturis rerum’.
Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 431. DNRIDT + DTR.

18. CAMBRAI, Bibliotheque municipale 249, fols. 2-8'', s. xii, St Sepulcre.

19. CAMBRIDGE, Library of Corpus Christi College 359, fols. 73''-74, s.
xiv', English. No capitula. Ends in ch. 15.

•20. CAMBRIDGE, Library of Trinity College O. 8. 6 (1381), fols. 1-10’,
s. xii.

21. CAMBRIDGE, University Library Ff I 27, p. 116, s. xiii, English.
Quatrain only. Jones, CCSL 123A, 175. DTR + DNR.

22. CAMBRIDGE, University Library Gg II 21, fols. 190-200, s. xii/xhi.
DT Chronicle/DAR.

23. CAMBRIDGE, University Library li 132, fols. 203-11, s. xiv, Norwich.

24. CARPENTRAS, Bibliotheque Inguimbertine 1792, s. xv-xvii. Chapter
12 and some other extracts only. Laistner, p. 140; omitted without
comment by Jones, CCSL 123A, 176.

25. CAVA DE’ TIRRENI, Archivio e Biblioteca della Badia della SS.
Trinita 3, fols. 137-50, 192-208’, s. xi. Scattered excerpts. Jones,
CCSL 123A, 176; HMML no. Italy Cava de’ Tirreni Biblioteca della
SS. Trinita. Codex Cavensis 3. DTR + DNR.

*26. COLOGNE, Dombibliothek 103, fols. 23’-35, s. vih/ix, written for
Hildebald, Archbishop of Cologne, 785-819. The basis for the edition

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INTRODUCTION

of Noviomagus. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 431; Lowe, CLA 8,
39 (no. 1158); Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1916. DNRIDT + DTR.

27. DIJON, Bibliotheque municipale 77, fol. 209'', s. xii, Citeaux. Quatrain
only. Jones, CCSL 123A, 176.

28. DIJON, Bibliotheque municipale 448, fol. 25’ (ch. 12, extract), fols.
201-203’ + fols. 173-176, s. x (Jones, CCSL 123A, 176); s. x and
xii (Laistner, p. 140), St-Benigne. Some gatherings of the MS have
been disarrayed. Fols. 196-203 actually belong between folio 172 and
173. DTR fols. 108-172 + fols. 196-200; DTfols. 176-181. Jeudy and
Riou, Les manuscrits classiques latins, 1,483-500. Fol. 201: ‘Incipiunt
duo libelli de natura rerum et ratione temporum Bede presbiteri’. DTR/
DNR/DT.

29. ESCORIAL, Real Biblioteca de San Lorenzo de El Escorial L I 3, AD
1047?, fol. 233’-238''. Excerpts. Laistner, p. 140 (Laistner gives the
shelf number as ‘Q I 3’); Jones, CCSL 123A, 176.

30. ESCORIAL, Real Biblioteca de San Lorenzo de El Escorial R III 9, fol.
120’, s. xiF.

31. ELORENCE, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana XXIX 24, fols. 63-69’,
s. xi. + DT.

32. ELORENCE, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Cod. 379, fols. 1-19, s. xiii'.
Jordanus.

33. EREIBURG IM BREISGAU, Erzbishofhches Archiv Hs. 35, ix^"*,
Lotharingia (vicinity of Priim). Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1279.

34. GENEVA, Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire 50, fols. 24-32,
s. ix'^'*, Massay. ‘Fol. 24, containing the quatrain, capitula, and odd
computistical statements, is in a dehnitely later hand. Fol. 25 begins Ch.
1 without rubrics’ (Jones, BP, p. 117). Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p.
431; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1351. DNRIDT + DTR.

35. GRAZ, Universitatsbibliothek 297 (39/9f.), fols. 1-9’, s. xii. HMML
no. 26209. DNR/DTR.

36. KARLSRUHE, BadischeLandesbibliothek,Aug. perg. 167,fols. 18-20’
(Jones CCSL 123A, 176: fols. 18-23’; but see Jones, CCSL 123B, 246;
CCSL 123C, 580 [no. 75]), AD 848, northeastern Erance (Soissons?).
No incipit. Quatrain. Irish glosses; source-marks. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s
DNR’, p. 431; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1676. DNR/DT!DTR.

37. KARLSRUHE, Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe 442, fols.
21’-27’, s. ix^''*, western Germany. ‘Incipit liber de natura rerum’.
Laistner, p. 141; Jones, CCSL 123A, 176; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1782;
Jordanus. + DT (?).

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

38. KLOSTERNEUBURG, Stiftsbibliothek 685, fols. D-S", s. xii. Histori-
ated initial O of Bede dressed as a monk. HMML no. 5666. DNR/DTI
DTR.

39. LEIDEN, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Voss. Eat. Q 57, fols. 128''-136, s.
xyimd Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections. DNR/DT.

40. LEIDEN, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Voss. Eat. Q 75, fols. 118''-127, s.
ix^, eastern France. Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2226; Medieval Manuscripts
in Dutch Collections.

41. LONDON, British Library, Additional 34749 (Phillipps 1056), fol.
3-14, s. xiE. One folio missing; begins in ch. 2.

*42. LONDON, B.L., Cotton Caligula A XV, fol. 71, s. viiE, northeastern
France. Copied from an exemplar written AD 743. Ch. 17 only, as part of
the ‘Computus Cottonianus’, the core of which was composed in Spain
in the seventh century: see Cordoliani, ‘Textes de comput espagnol du
Vile siecle: le Computus Cottonianus’, and Gomez Pallares. Jones,
CCSL 123A, 176; Lowe, CLA 2, 19 (no. 183).

43. LONDON, B.L., CottonDomitianI, fol. 2, s. x^.Ch. 2. Gneuss, Handlist,
no. 326.

*44. LONDON, B.L., Cotton Tiberius EIV, fols. 125-13r, s. xn'-^\ Winch-
combe. Complete but burned. Marginal glosses and diagrams. Gameson,
Manuscripts, no. 409. DTR/DNR/DT (excerpts only of DT).

45. LONDON, B.L., Cotton Vespasian B XIII, fols. 22''-26\ s. xiii?,
English.

*46. LONDON, B.L., Egerton 3088 (Beatty 59, Phillipps 12200), fols.
68''-76'', c. 1243, Dore Abbey. ‘Versus Bede in librum de natura rerum
quern ex libris plinii secundi. excerpsit’. Quatrain. Source-marks. Jones,
‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, pp. 432-33. DTR/DNR/DT.

47. LONDON, B.L., Harley 3091, fols. 6-12, s. ix^^, Nevers (?). ‘Incipiunt
versus bedae prbi’. Quatrain. ‘Incipit liber bedae presbiteri de natura
rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 433; Bischoff, Katalog, no.
2476. DNR/DT + DTR.

48. LONDON, B.L., Harley 3105, fols. 90-99, s. xii. Laistner, 141; Jones,
CCSL 123A, 177 (‘Harley 3015’).

49. LONDON, B.L., Harley 3735, fols. 3''-5, s. xiv. ‘Crammed (together
with Bede’s DT, foil. 5r-5v) on flyleaves of the original codex (95 lines
per column)’. Jones, CCSL 123A, 177. DNR/DT.

*50. LONDON, B.L., Royal 13 A XI, fols. 14-22, s. xii“, Normandy or
NW France (Gneuss, Handlist). ‘Incipiunt duo libelli bede presbiteri
de natura rerum et ratione temporum. Incipit liber primus de quadri-

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INTRODUCTION

fario dei opere’. Source-marks. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 433;
Gameson, Manuscripts, no. 548. DNR/DT + DTR.

51. LONDON, B.L., Sloane 2030, fols. 3-9, s. xii/xiii.

52. LONDON, Quaritch Catalogue No. 833 (1962), No. 1, s. xii. Jones,
CCSL 123A, 177. Present location unknown.

53. LONGLEAT, Collection of the Marquess of Bath, 117,pt. 1, fols. 2v-8v,
s. xiii, St Augustine’s, Canterbury. ‘Catalogus codicum manuscrip-
torum in Bibliotheca Nobilissimi viri Johannis Alexandri Thynne
Marchionis Bathiae apud Longleate in Comitatu Wiltoniae Asserva-
torum’ (handwritten catalogue of 1864), pp. 89-90.

54. LUCCA, Biblioteca Capitolare Feliniana 490, fols. 310-31 (Laistner,
p. 141); fols. 310-21 (Jones, CCSL 123A, 177), ca. 800, Lucca. Lowe,
CLA 3, 10 (no. 303e); Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2524.

55. LYON, Bibliotheque de la Ville 45, fols. 149-56, s. xiv and xvi,
Adamoli.

56. MADRID, Biblioteca Nacional 19 (A 16), fols. 114-34, s. xii, Ripoll.
‘Incipit liber venerabilis Bede presbyteri de naturis rerum de quadri-
fario opere dei’. Laistner, p. 141; Jones, CCSL 123A, 177; Jordanus.
DTR + DNR.

57. MADRID, Biblioteca Nacional 3307, fob 72, s. ix', Metz. An important
manuscript of the ‘Aachen Encyclopaedia of 809’ (discussed above p.
41); Book 7 contained all of DNR, but due to the loss of some leaves
only chapters 47-51 remain: Borst, Schriften, pp. 248-49 and 1321-22.
Jones, CCSL 123A, 177. DTR + DNR.

58. MELK, Stiftsbibliothek 348 (382, G 48), pp. 1-17, s. xii. HMML no.
1355. DNRIDT/DTR.

59. MELK, Stiftsbibliothek 412 (370, G 32), pp. 1-16, s. ix''^ Auxerre.
Glosses in Tironian notes, by Heiric of Auxerre. Jones, BP, p. 123; Bisch¬
off, Katalog, no. 2739; HMML no. 1957. DNR/DT + DTR. (A, Jones)

60. MILAN, Biblioteca Ambrosiana D 48 Inf., fols. 57-66, AD 1018, from
Tortona. ‘Incipiunt capitula libri primi de natura rerum’. Capitula', no
quatrain. Sources in chapter-titles. Glosses. DTR/DNR/DT.

61. MONZA, Biblioteca Capitolare f 9/176, fols. 83-92’, s. ix^'"*, western
Germany. Jones, CCSL 123A, 178; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2892.

62. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 175, fols. 1-8’, s. xv.
Pages lost after rubric for ch. 43.

*63. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 210, fols. 129’-145, AD
818, upper Austria. Quatrain; no incipit. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR,
p. 433; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2923. DNR + DTR.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

64. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 4355, fols. 6-16'', s. xv,
from Augsburg. DTR/DNR.

65. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 17145, fols. 57-66", s.
xii, Scheftlarn. Laistner, p. 142; Jones, CCSL 123A, 178; Jordanus.

•66. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 21557, fols. 84-93", s.
xi, Weihenstephan. ‘Incipit Liber Bedae Presbiteri De Naturis Rerum’.
Capitula and quatrain. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 433. DTRIDNRI
DT.

67. NEW HAVEN, Yale University Medical Library 25, fols. 73"-74, ca.
1450, Germany. Ch. 25 only. Jordanus', Faye and Bond, Supplement to
the Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, p. 59.

68. ORLEANS, Bibliotheque municipale 31 (28), pp. 221-29, s. ix med.,
Loire vicinity; provenance Fleury. ‘Incipiunt versus bedae presbiteri’.
Quatrain. ‘Incipiunt capitula 1. bedae presbiteri de natura rerum’. Jones,
‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 433; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 3660; Mostert,
The Library of Fleury, p. 116 (BF442). DNRIDT + DTR.

*69. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, Auct. F. 3.14 (Western 2372), fols. 20-27",
s. xii' (pre 1125), Malmesbury. Quatrain and capitula. ‘Explicit liber
bedae venerabilis presbiteri de natura rerum’. Source-marks in margin.
Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 433; Gameson, Manuscripts, no. 626.
DNRIDT + DTR.

70. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, Canon, lat. 560, fols. 4"-24, s. xi. ‘An
assemblage containing part or all of DNR chapters in this order: 1-9,
19, 22-23, 36, 11, 10, 16, 20, 12-13, 15, 14, 25, 28-35, 37, 46, 49, 38,
40-43’. Jones, CCSL 123A, 178.

•71. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, Digby 63, fols. 33"-34", s. ix^ (?),
Winchester. ‘Some paraphrases of DNR, but only a sentence or two
copied’. Jones, CCSL 123A, 178; not listed in Bischoff, Katalog. DTR
(ch. 1) H- DNR + DTR (ch. 19).

72. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, e Museo 223, fols. 153-161, s. xiii, St
Augustine’s, Canterbury. ‘Bedae excerpta ex plinio de imagine mundi
et temporum’. Through ch. 49. Very corrupt. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s
DNR’, p. 433.

73. OXFORD, Lincoln College 96, fols. 127"-132, s. xiii.

74. OXFORD, Magdalen College 183, fols. 1-11, s. xv. Quatrain and
capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 433. DNRIDTIDTR.

•75. OXFORD, St John’s College 17, fols. 62-65, ca. 1092-1110, Thorney.
Starts at ch. 16. Interlinear and marginal glosses. ‘Explicit de natura
rerum liber’. A few glosses. See Wallis, ‘The Calendar and the Cloister’,

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INTRODUCTION

and n. 120, above. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 433; Gameson,
Manuscripts, no. 794. DT + DNRIDTR.

76. PARIS, Bibliotheque Mazarine 175, fol. 160'', s. xii, St Victor. Excerpt
only. + DTR.

77. PARIS, Bibliotheque nationale lat. 446, fols. 198-202'', s. xii-xiii,
Bonport. Ends with ch. 49.

78. PARIS, B.N. lat. 1956, fols. 76-81, s. xiP.

79. PARIS, B.N. lat. 2340, s. xi. Lost. DNRIDTIDTRl

80. PARIS, B.N. lat. 3563, s. xiv. Jones, CCSL 123A, 179.

81. PARIS, B.N. lat. 4860, fols. 108-111'', s. ix^, Bodensee (Reichenau?).
‘Incipit Liher Bedae presbiteri de naturis rerum versus eiusdem’.
Quatrain and capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 433. DTRIDT
chronicle + DNR.

*82. PARIS, B.N. lat. 5239, fols. 24-32, s. x, St Martial, Limoges. Quatrain.
‘Incipit liber bedae presbiteri de natura rerum’. Capitula. Jones, ‘MSS
of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434; Jones, BP, p. 128; Jones, CCSL 123A, 179
(mis-numbered ‘B.N. 5329’). DNRIDT + DTR.

*83. PARIS, B.N. lat. 5543, fols. 76''-85, AD 847, Fleury. ‘Incipiunt Versus
Bedae presbiteri’. Quatrain. ‘Incipit Liber Bedae presbiteri de natura
rerum’. Capitula. Glosses. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434;
Mostert, The Library of Fleury, pp. 207-8 (BF1058). DTR/DNR/DT.

*84. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7299A, fols. 66''-70, s. xii, southwest France, possibly
Limoges. Ends in ch. 24. Borst, Schriften, pp. 272-73. DNR + DTR.

85. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7361, fol. 42’, s. xi, Germany, perhaps Lower Rhine.
‘Versus Bedae Presbiteri’. Quatrain only. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’,
p. 434; Borst, Schriften, pp. 273-74. DNR quatrain/DT chronicle.

86. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7400B, fols. 12-27, s. ix^''^, France; provenance
Fleury?. Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p. 216 (BF1104). DNRIDT.

87. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7418, fols. 123-137'', s. xiv. 98 chapters; mixed with
materials from Isidore, Etym., etc. DTR + DNR.

88. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7887, s. ix“, provenance Fleury? ‘This is called 7581
in Laistner’s list’ (Jones, CCSL 123A, 180); Paris, Cat. Ill, 4, 410;
Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p. 220 (BF1128).

89. PARIS, B.N. lat. 11130, fols. 69''-81’, s. xii. Quatrain and capitula.
Many rotae and figurae. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434.

90. PARIS, B.N. lat. 13013, fols. 30-37, ca. 830, Auxerre. DNR and DT
joined without quatrain, capitula, or rubrics. DNRIDT + DTR.

*91. PARIS, B.N. lat. 14088, fols. 50-59, s. ix, France? Garbled capitula and
rubrics. Beeson, p. 79; Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p. 235. DTR +
DNRIDT.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

92. PARIS, B.N. lat. 15685, fols. 1-10, s. ix, belonged to Sorbonne. ‘Incipi-
unt versus bedae presbiteri’. Quatrain. ‘Incipit liber bedae presbiteri de
natura rerum’. Capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 434. DNR/DT.

*93. PARIS, B.N. lat. 16361, pp. 1-18, s. xii, belonged to Sorbonne. ‘Versus
Bedae’. Quatrain and capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434.
DNR/DT+DTR.

94. PARIS, B.N., Nouv. acq. lat. 1612 (Libri 87), fols. 1-7, s. ix. Tours.
Quatrain and capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DVR’, p. 434. DNR/DTR.

•95. PARIS, B.N., Nouv. acq. lat. 1615 (Libri 90), fols. 128''-135, s. ix,
Auxerre or Fleury?; provenance Eleury. ‘Versus Bedae Presbiteri’.
Quatrain, capitula, glosses using Tironian notes. Jones, ‘MSS of
Bede’s DNR’, p. 434; Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p. 243 (BF1258).
DTR + DNR/DT. (N, Jones)

96. PARIS, B.N., Nouv. acq. lat. 1632 (Libri 41), fols. 1-9, s. ix, Fleury?;
provenance Fleury. ‘Versus Bede presbiteri’. Quatrain, capitula,
extensive glosses. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434; Mostert, The
Library of Fleury, p. 247 (BF1277).

97. POMMERSFELDEN, Graflich Schonbornsche Bibliothek 53, fols.
r-13\ s. xii. DNR/DT + DTR.

98. ROUEN, Bibliotheque municipale A292 [26], fols. 164-173'', s. ix,
Jumieges. ‘Versus bedae presbyteri’. Quatrain. ‘Capitula libri de naturis
rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434. DNR/DT.

99. ROUEN, Bibliotheque municipale U74 [1177], fols. 282''-288'', s.
xii, Jumieges. ‘Explicit libellus bede presbiteri de natura rerum quern
secundam maiorem partem descripsit de libro plinii secundi naturali
hystoriae’. DT/DNR + DT.

100. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 248, pp. 83-92, s. ix, St Gall or northern
France. No incipit. Quatrain. Source-marks. ‘Finit liber primus [DNR\
incipit secundus {DT\’. Copy of Karlsruhe, B. L., Aug. perg. 167 (see
DT, St Gall, 248, below)? Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434; Borst,
Schriften, p. 288. DNR/DT + DTR. (Sg, KendallAVallis)

•101.ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 250, pp. 121-45, ca. 889, St Gall. ‘Versus
Bedae presbiteri’. Quatrain. ‘Explicit liber de natura rerum’. Jones,
‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 434. DTR (excerpts) H- DNR/DT/DTR.

102. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 251, pp. 33^4, before 820, St Gall. ‘Versus
Betae [iic] presbiteri’. Quatrain. ‘Inc. de naturis rerum’. Source-marks
in margin. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435. DT chronicle + DNR/
DTR. (G, Jones, also KendallAVallis)

103. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 397, pp. 123-40, s. ix^, St Gall. Quatrain.

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INTRODUCTION

‘Explicit liber de naturis rerum’. Scattered chapters of DTR before
DNR-, only ch. 4 is contiguous with DNR. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s
DNR\ p. 435. DTR (extracts)/DNR.

104. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 878, pp. 242-62, AD 827-829, Lulda?
Part of a vade mecum prepared by Walafrid Strabo at Lulda before
he became abbot of Reichenau: Bischoff, ‘Line Sammelhandschrift
Walahfrid Strabos’, pp. 39-40. DNRIDT.

105. SAN MARINO, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, HM
1345, s. xiv, fols. 40^6’, English. ‘Incipiunt excepta que beda ex libris
plinii secundi de naturis rerum excepit’. Somewhat garbled capitula
and rubrics.

106. SCHALLHAUSEN, Stadtbibliothek 61, fols. 1-9, s. x. ‘Versus Bedae
Presbyter!’. Quatrain and capitula. ‘Explicit liber de natura rerum’.
Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435. DNRIDT + DTR.

Stonyhurst College, see WHALLEY.

107. STRASBOURG, Bibliotheque municipale 326, fols. I-IO'", s. x,
Angouleme or Limoges? DNR/DT/DTR.

108. STRASBOURG, Bibliotheque du Grand Seminaire, fragment of four
fols. Munster (Alsace). Jones, CCSL 123A, 182.

109. STUTTGART, Wiirttembergische Landesbibliothek, Theol. Q 172,
fols. 1-7'', s. xii, Chomberg. ‘Incipit liber bede presbiteri de natura
rerum’. Quatrain. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435. DNRIDTR.

110. TRIER, Bistumsarchiv 6, fols. 58-65, s. xi/xii, from St Michael’s
Abbey, Hildesheim. HMML no. 40372.

111. TRIER, Stadtbibliothek/Stadtarchiv 2500, fols. 142''-149, s. ix, St
Maximin’s, Trier. Eranz and Lehnart, Karolingische Beda-Handschrift
aus St. Maximin (Westgard); Laistner’s Munich, ‘untraced’, p. 144;
formerly Koblenz, Gbrrische Bibliothek 16; see also Jones BOT, p.
160. DNR!DTI DTR.

112. UTRECHT, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit 73, fols. 95-109'', AD
1462, Carthusians near Utrecht.

113. VALENCIA, Biblioteca de la Catedral 93 (2407). Jones, CCSL 123A,
182.

114. VALENCIA, Biblioteca Universitaria 46, s. xv. Laistner, p. 143;
Jordanus', ‘Biblioteca de Valencia. Catalogo de los codices procedentes
del monasterio de San Miguel de los reyes’. Revista de Archives,
Bibliotecas y Museos V (1875) 13. Omitted without comment by
Jones, CCSL 123A, 182.

115. VALENCIENNES, Bibliotheque municipale 174, fols. l''-13'', s. ix.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

St Amand. ‘Incipiunt versus bedae presbiteri’. Quatrain and capitula.
‘Incipit liber de natura rerum’. Heavily glossed. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s
DNR\ p. 435. DTR + DNRIDT + DTR.

116. VALENCIENNES, Bibliotheque municipale 343, fols. 14-22’, s. x,
St Amand. ‘Incipit capitula libri bedae de natura rerum ex opusculis
sancti augustini’. Capitula. Glosses. ‘Explicit liber bedae de naturis
rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 435. DT/DNR + DTR.

117. VATICAN CITY, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barberini lat. All,
fols. 72''-88, s. xi. Capitula and quatrain. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DAW’,
p. 435. DNRIDT.

118. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Ottobon. lat. 6, fols. 15-18’, s. xii. Begins
in ch. 20. ‘Finit liber Baede de natura rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s
DNR\ p. 435. DNRIDTIDTR (ch. 4 only).

119. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Pal. lat. 317, fols. 111-114’, s. xiv. ‘Beda de
naturis rerum’. Capitula and quatrain. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’,
p. 435.

120. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Pal. lat. 1449, fols. 105-112’, s. ix, Mainz or
Lorsch. Quatrain and capitula. ‘Explicit liber de natura rerum’. Jones,
‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435; Borst, Schriften, p. 300. DTR (chs.
1-65)1 DNR!DT + DTR (chs. 66-71). (L, Jones)

*121.VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 123, fols. 127-219’, AD 1056,
Ripoll; prepared by Abbot Oliva. Most of DNR in scattered chapters
intermingled with chapters from DTR. This is an encyclopaedic treat¬
ment of computus, cosmology and astronomy organized in four books,
and composed of excerpts from Bede, Isidore, Hyginus, Pliny and
others: see Garcia Aviles, El tiempo y los astros, ch. 78; and Puigvert,
‘El manuscrito Vat. reg. lat. 123 y su posibile adscripcion al scripto¬
rium de Santa Marfa de RipolT. {DTR + DT{1) + DNR).

*122.VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 309, fols. 107’-117, s. x, St
Denis. ‘Versus Baedae Praesbiteri’. Quatrain. ‘Capitula libri De naturis
rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435. DTR + DNR.

123. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 755, fols. 88-92’, s. x, St-Columba,
Sens (Jones), St-Trinite of Fecamp or St-Berthe of Blangy. Quatrain
and capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435; Mostert, The
Library of Fleury, p. 276 (BF1463). DTRIDNRIDT.

124. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 1038, fols. 129-135’, s. x. Quatrain
and capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435. DTRIDNRIDT.

125. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 1260, fols. 1-7’, s. ix, Fleury.
‘Incipit liber Baedae Presbiteri. De natura rerum’. Quatrain. Heavy

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INTRODUCTION

glosses. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 435; Mostert, The Library of
Fleury, p. 279 (BF1482). DNRIDT.

126. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 1405, fols. 56-84, s. xi. ‘Versus
Bedae presbiteri’. Capitula and quatrain. ‘Explicit liber Bedae Presbi-
teri de naturis rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 435. DNRIDT.

‘127.VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Rossi lat. 247, fols. 8-19', AD 1018?,
St-Chaffre du Monastier. Capitula, quatrain, and glosses. Jones, ‘MSS
of Bede’s DNR’, p. 435; Borst, Schriften, p. 308. DNRIDT + DTR.

128. ’VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Vat. lat. 642, fols. 1-6', s. xi, from Lyon.
‘Incipit liber bede presbiteri de natura rerum’. Capitula and quatrain.
Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 436. DNRIDT + DTR.

129. ’VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Vat. lat. 643, fols. 1-9, s. xii, Melk? Capitula
and quatrain. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 436. DNRIDTIDTR.

130. ’VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Vat. lat. 644, fols. l'-6', s. x, St Gall. Lost
gatherings; text from chs. 9-47. Heaviest marginal glosses of any DNR
MS; several times the length of the text. DNRIDT + DTR.

131. ’VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Vat. lat. 645, fols. 81'-92', s. ix, most likely
St-Quentin. Quatrain and capitula. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p.
436; Borst, Schriften, pp. 311-12. DTR + DNR.

132. ’VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Vat. lat. 5530, fols. 3-4, AD 896. DNR, chs.
1-3, excerpted into a computistical compilation of 180 chapters. Jones,
CCSL 123A, 183.

133. VERCELLI, Archivio Capitolare 138, pp. 69-96, s. x. ‘Bede de Naturis
rerum liber T. Jones, CCSL 123A, 183.

134. VIENNA, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 387, fols. 130'-156', s.
ix, Salzburg. Jordanus', HMML no. 17564. DTR + DNR. (S', Jones)

135. VIENNA, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 522, fols. 3-29, s. x,
Salzburg. HMML no. 13852. DNR + DTR.

136. VIENNA, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 12600, fols. 97-105, s.
xii/xiii, from Priifening.

137. WHALLEY, Stonyhurst College 26, fols. 2-10', s. xiE-xiii in., written
in England. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries 4, 396 (2).

138. WOLFENBUTTEL, Herzog August Bibliothek, Helmst. 696, fol. 62',
s. XV. Excerpts.

139. WOLEENBUTTEL, Herzog August Bibliothek, Weiss. 66, fols.
54-61', s. ix/x, eastern Erance?

140. YORK, Minster Library 42. ‘V. Beda de naturis rerum ex Plinio’.
Jones, CCSL 123A, 184.

141. ZURICH, Zentralbibliothek C 62, fols. 224'-232', s. x, St Gall.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

Quatrain. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 436. DNR/DT.

142. ZURICH, Zentralbibliothek Car C 176, fols. 188-202\ s. x/xi. St Gall.

No quatrain; DTR is said to be fols. 174-231'' (Jones, CCSL

123B, 255). Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR’, p. 436. DT/DNR inserted
into DTR7

143. ZWETTL, Zisterzienserstift 296, fols. 3-12’, s. xii/xiii. HMML no.
6889. DNRIDTIDTR.

MANUSCRIPTS OF BEDE’S DE TEMPORIBUS

Manuscripts of chs. 16/17-22 of De temporibus (= the Chronica minora)
alone, are preceded by a dagger (t).

1. ANGERS, Bibliotheque municipale All (461), fols. 18-22, AD 897,
Brittany (Leon); provenance St-Aubin. Ends with ch. 15. Jones, CCSL
123C, 580 (no. 5); Bischoff, Katalog, no. 69. DNR/DT + DTR.

2. AVRANCHES, Bibliotheque municipale 135, fols. 120-121, s. xii/xiii.
Fragment. Jones, CCSL 123C, 582 (Avranches, ‘155’); Stevens, App.
1, p. 678; cf. Jones, CCSL 123B, 243 (Avranches, 135).

3. BAMBERG, Staatsbibliothek, Patr. 101 (B V 19), fols. lOO’-lll, s. ix/x,

central Italy; provenance Bamberg Dombibliothek. Bischoff, Katalog,
no. 236. DNR/DT.

H. BERLIN, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Lat.
fol. 307, s. xiii. First three ages only. Mommsen, 3, 241; Jones, EOT,
p. 167; Rep. Chron. Omitted without comment by Jones, CCSL 123C,
580-83.

5. BERLIN, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Phillipps 1831 (Rose 128), fols. 100-106, s. ix in., Verona; provenance
Metz. ‘Incipit liber Bedae de temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 231; 241;
Jones, EOT, pp. 163-64; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 437. DTR + DNR/DT.
(B, Jones; F, Mommsen)

6. BERLIN, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Phillipps 1832 (Rose 130), fols. O’-M’, ca. AD 873, Laon; provenance
Metz (see Contreni, ‘Bede’s Scientific Works’, pp. 249-51). ‘Incipiunt
capitula libri secundi de temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 231; 241;
Jones, EOT, p. 164; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 436, DNR/DT + DTR.

U. BERLIN, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Lat.
956, fols. 5''-8, s. xii, from Havelberg; written in France. Chs. 16-22.
Jones, CCSL 123C, 582.

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INTRODUCTION

8. BERN, Burgerbibliothek 285, fols. 109-112, s. xii, Fleury? Ends ch. 13
with a spurious ch. 14. Tncipit ii’ de ratione temperum [i'ic]’. Jones,
BOT, p. 165; not listed in Mostert, The Library of Fleury. DNRIDT.

*9. BERN, Burgerbibliothek 610, fols. 47''-52'', s. ix^'^ vicinity of Tours.
Chs. 1-13 only. Chs. 14-65 are really DNR. Tncipit liber ii de tempo-
ribus et momentis’. Jones, BOT, p. 165; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 609;
Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p. 81 (BF221). DTIDNR + DTR.

10. BRUSSELS, Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler 9728-9734, fol. 197\
s. xiii, Ste-Rictrude de Marchiennes. Jones, CCSL 123C, 582. DNR
quatrain and capitula + DT capitula.

11. BRUSSELS, Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler 9837-9840 [1361], fols.
8''-13'', s. xii/xiii, St-Amand. Tncipit liber de temporibus i’. Mommsen,
CM 3, 233; 241; Jones, BOT, p. 165. DNRIDT + DTR.

12. BRUSSELS, Bibliotheque Royale Albert ler 9932-9934 [1359], fols.
12-18'', s. xi, St Laurent, Liege. Tncipit liber secundus de temporibus’.
Mommsen, CM 3, 241; Jones, BOT, p. 165. DNRIDT + DTR.

13. CAMBRIDGE, Library of Trinity College, B. 3. 5 (84), fols. 144-144’,
s. xi“, Canterbury, Christ Church. Extract. Gameson, Manuscripts, no.
140.

^14. CAMBRIDGE, University Library Gg II21 [not Gg II31, as in Mommsen
and Jones], pp. 183-89, s. xiii. ‘Libellus Bedae presbiteri temporibus
minor’. Excerpts. Mommsen, CM 3, 241. DT Chronicle/DAR.

T5. COLOGNE,Dombibliothek 103, fols. 35^3'', s. viii/ix, Cologne, written
for Hildebald, bishop of Cologne, 785—819. ‘Incipit liber secundus de
temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 234; 241; Jones, BOT, p. 164; Lowe,
CLA 8, 39 (no. 1158); Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1916. DNRIDT + DTR.

16. DIJON, Bibliotheque municipale 448, fols. 176-181, s. xi (Jones,
CCSL 123B, 245); s. x and xii (Laistner, p. 148), St-Benigne. Jones,
CCSL 123C, 580 (no. 54). See DNR, no. 28. DTRIDNRIDT.

17. DURHAM, Cathedral Library, Hunter 100, s. xii“, Durham. Delete
from list: see below, p. 65.

T8. EINSIEDELN, Stiftsbibliothek 167, fols. 387-390, s. x. ‘De sex
aetatibus mundi’. Mommsen, CM 3, 241; Jones, CCSL 123C, 582. (E,
Mommsen)

T9. FLORENCE, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ashburnham 1554, fol.
75, s. xi. Ch. 22 only. Mommsen, CM 3, 241.

20. FLORENCE, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana XXIX 24, s. xi. Borst,
Schriften, pp. 229-30. + DNR.

21. GENEVA, Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire 50, fols. 32-37’, s.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

(in a later hand than bulk of MS which is ca. 804), Massay. ‘Incipit
liber de temporibus’. Jones, EOT, p. 164; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 1351.
DNRIDT+DTR.

22. KARLSRUHE, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. 167, fols.
21-23, AD 848, northeastern Erance (Soissons?). Bischoff, Katalog,
no. 1676. DNR/DT/DTR. (K, Jones)

23. KARLSRUHE, Badische Landesbibliothek, Karlsruhe 442, s. x-xi.
Laistner, p. 145 and p. 141; Jones, EOT, p. 167; Bischoff, Katalog, no.
1782. + DNR.

24. KLOSTERNEUBURG, Stiftsbibliothek 685, fols. 8''-14, s. xii. HMML
no. 5666. DNR/DT/DTR.

25. LEIDEN, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Scaliger 44, fol. 87-87'', s. xv.
Excerpt. Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections.

^26. LEIDEN, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Voss. Lat. Q 12:4, fols. 73-73'', s. x.
Excerpt. Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections.

27. LEIDEN, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Voss. Lat. Q 57, fols. 136- 139'', s.
xvimd Medieval Manuscripts in Dutch Collections. DNR/DT.

28. LONDON, British Library, Additional 22635, fols. 51-52, s. xiv. Chs.
15, 17-22. Jones, EOT, p. 165. DTR/DT.

29. LONDON, B.L., Additional 36591, fol. 40, s. xv (William Langley,
1476). Fragment from a binding. Jones, CCSL 123C, 582.

*30. LONDON, B.L., Cotton Tiberius B V, s. xi, Christ Church, Canterbury?

Winchester? (prov. Battle). Ch. 14. Gneuss, Handlist no. 373. + DTR.
*31. LONDON, B.L., Cotton Tiberius C I, fol. 2\ s. xii'-^"* (between 1122
and 1135?), Peterborough. Excerpt ch. 11. Jones, CCSL 123C, 581 (no.
89); Gameson, Manuscripts, no. 404.

*32. LONDON, B.L., Cotton Tiberius E IV, fols. 131''-135, s.

Winchcombe. Excerpts. Jones, EOT, p. 165; CCSL 123C, 581 (no. 90);
Gameson, Manuscripts, no. 409. DTR/DNR/DT.

*33. LONDON, B.L., Egerton 3088 (Beatty 59, Phillipps 12200), fols.
76''-79'', ca. AD 1243, Dore Abbey. Ch. 14 split into separate chapters;
ch. 15 with rubric ‘De ratione et misterio pasche’. ‘Incipit eiusdem
(Bedae) liber de temporibus’. Jones, EOT, p. 165. DTR/DNR/DT.

*34. LONDON, B.L., Harley 3017, fols. 168''-172L s. ix^"*, France. Chs.
1-11 and 13, with an omission in ch. 3, because part of ch. 3 and ch.
12 are found elsewhere in codex (Jones, EOT, p. 165); fols. 143-190'':
‘Excerpts intermingled with the text of DTR' (Jones, CCSL 123C, 581
[no. 941). Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2466; Mostert, The Library ofFleury,
p. 107 (BF382). + DTR.

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INTRODUCTION

35. LONDON, B.L., Harley 3091, fols. 12''-16'', s. ix“, Nevers (?). Tncipit
liber ii de temporibus’. Mommsen, CM3, 235; 241; Jones, BOT, p. 165;
Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2476. DNR/DT + DTK.

36. LONDON, B.L., Harley 3735, fols. 5'’', s. xiv. Chs. 1-16 only. Jones,
BOT, p. 165. DNR/DT.

^37. LONDON, B.L., Royal 2 B V, s. x/xi. Ch. 16. Gneuss, Handlist no. 451.
38. LONDON, B.L., Royal 12 F II, s. xii. Rep. Chron.\ see Jones, CCSL
123B, 247.

*39. LONDON, B.L., Royal 13 A XI, fols. 22-28, s. xii“, English or French.
Tncipit ii’ de temporibus horisetmomentis’. After ch. 15: ‘Explicitliber
bede presbiteri de temporibus secundus de mundi aetatibus’. Mommsen,
CM 3, 234; 241; Jones, BOT, p. 165; Gameson, Manuscripts, no. 548.
DNR/DT+DTR.

40. LUCCA, Biblioteca Statale, 2297, s. xv. Rep. Chron.

41. MELK, Stiftsbibliothek 348 (382, G 48), pp. 17-30, s. xii. World
diagram at p. 30 (end of DT). Jones, BOT, p. 167; HMML no. 1355.
DNR/DT/DTR.

42. MELK, Stiftsbibliothek 412 (370, G 32), pp. 16-26, s. ix''^ Auxerre.
Jones, BP, p. 123; CCSL 123C, 581 (no. 110); Bischoff, Katalog, no.
2739; HMML no. 1957. DNRJDT + DTR.

43. MILAN, Biblioteca Ambrosiana D 48 Inf., fols. 66-72, AD 1018, San
Marziano of Tortona. Glosses. Tncipit liber secundus de temporibus’.
‘Explicit liber de temporibus Bede presbiteri feliciter’. Mommsen, CM
3, 241. DTR/DNR/DT.

44. MILAN, Biblioteca Ambrosiana M 12 Sup., pp. 3-12, ca. 866, written
partly in Lobbes, partly in Herford. Palimpsest in Tironian notes. Jones,
BOT, p. 165; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 2645. DT + DTR.

45. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 4423, pp. 158''-164, s. xv.
Jones, BOT, p. 167; Laistner, p. 146; Jones, CCSL 123C, 581, no. 125;
but see Jones, CCSL 123B, 249, no. 125, where he states that DTR is
found on pp. 157-64. + DTR.

"46. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 14746, fols. 91-98, s. ix',
Regensburg St Emmeram. Mommsen, CM 3, 241; Bischoff, Katalog,
no. 3258.

"47. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 18628, s. x, Tegernsee.
Mommsen, CM 3, 241.

*48. MUNICH, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 21557, fols. 93''-99, s. xi,
Weihenstephan. ‘Incipit liber ii de temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 242;
Jones, BOT, p. 166. DTR/DNR/DT.

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49. NAPLES, Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II V A 13, fols.
45-48, s. ix^''*. Corbie. Chs. 1-11. Bischoff, Katalog, no. 3575; Stevens,
App. 1, p. 678.

50. ORLEANS, Bibliotheque municipale 31 (28), pp. 229-35, s. ix med.,
Loire vicinity; provenance Eleury. ‘Incipit liber de temporibus’. Jones,
EOT, p. 166; Bischoff, Katalog, no. 3660; Mostert, The Library of
Eleury, p. 116 (BF442). DNR/DT + DTR.

•51. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, Auct. F.3.14 (Western 2372), fols. 27''-33,
s. xii' (pre 1125), Malmesbury. Mommsen, CMS, 235; 242; Gameson,
Manuscripts, no. 626. DNRIDT + DTR. (O, Jones)

52. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, Auct. F infra 1.2 (Western 1926), fols.
189-191'', s. xiv, Reading. ‘Incipit liber bede de temporibus primus’.
Jones, EOT, p. 166. DT + DTR.

*53. OXFORD, Bodleian Library, Digby 56, fol. 192'', s. xii, west England.
Ch. 15 only. DTR/DT.

54. OXFORD, Magdalen College 183, fol. 11, s. xv. ‘Incipiunt capitula libri
secundi de temporibus’, with list of chapters but no text; DTR begins on
same folio. Jones, EOT, p. 166. DNR/DT/DTR.

•55. OXFORD, St John’s College 17, fols. 58''-61'', AD 1109-10, Thorney.
‘A poor text, but nearest to Hervagius’ manuscript, which was copied
in all editions since saec. xvi’. Jones, EOT, p. 165. ‘Incipiunt capitula
super librum minorem bedae presbiteri de temporibus’. Gameson,
Manuscripts, no. 794. DTR + DT + DNR. (Z, Jones)

56. PARIS, Bibliotheque Nationale lat. 1829, fols. 71-75'', s. xi. Chs. 1- 14.
‘Incipit liber de ratione temporum’. Jones, EOT, p. 166. DTR/DT.

57. PARIS, B.N. lat. 2236, fols. 1-2, s. x. Chs. 14-17. Jones, CCSL 123C,
582.

58. PARIS, B.N. lat. 2340, s. xi. ‘Misplaced or lost’, Jones, EOT, pp. 160 and
167. Omitted without comment by Jones, CCSL 123C, 580-83. DNR/
DT/DTRl

+59. PARIS, B.N. lat. 2629, fols. 90-9r, s. xi. Chs. 17-22. Jones, CCSL
123C, 582.

+60. PARIS, B.N. lat. 4860, fols. 88''-89'', s. ix^, Bodensee [Reichenau?].
Portion of the chronicle only. Mommsen, CM 3, 235; 242. DNR/DT/
DTR7 (M, Mommsen)

+61. PARIS, B.N. lat. 5001, ca. AD 855?, France. Mommsen, CM 3, 242
(‘principium deficit’); Laistner, p. 147; Rep. Chron.\ Mostert, The
Library of Eleury, p. 206 (BF1052). Omitted without comment by
Jones, CCSL 123C, 582.

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INTRODUCTION

*62. PARIS, B.N. lat. 5239, Ms. 32-38, s. x, St-Martial, Limoges. Tncipit
liber de temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 236; 242; Jones, BOT, p. 166.
DNRIDT+DTR.

*63. PARIS, B.N. lat. 5543, fols. 85-90", AD 847, Fleury. Tncipit liber de
temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 242; Jones, BOT, p. 166; Mostert, The
Library of Fleury, pp. 207-8. DTR/DNR/DT.

'64. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7361, M. 42", s. xi. Chronicle continued to AM 4761
(AD 810). DNR quatrain/DT chronicle.

65. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7400B, Ms. 27-31", s. ix^^^ France; provenance
Fleury? Through part of ch. 13 without capitula or rubrics. Tncipit liber
de temporibus’. Jones, BOT, p. 166; Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p.
216(BF1104). DAR/DT.

66. PARIS, B.N. lat. 7418A, Ms. 26-33, s. xii, Brittany. Stevens, App. 1,
p. 678; Borst, Schriften, pp. 274-76.

67. PARIS, B.N. lat. 13013,Ms. 37^0",ca. 830, Auxerre; laterSt-Germain.
Chs. 1-16. No titles or rubrics. Jones, BOT, p. 166. DNR/DT + DTR.

^68. PARIS, B.N. lat. 13372, s. xi, St Germain. Mommsen, CM 3, 242.

69. PARIS, B.N. lat. 14088, Ms. 59"", 82-84", s. ix, France? Chs. 1-5,
11-14, 20-22. Jones, BOT, p. 166; Beeson, p. 79; Mostert, The Library
of Fleury, p. 235. DTR + DNRIDT.

70. PARIS, B.N. lat. 15685, Ms. 10-14, s. ix, prov. Sorbonne. No incipit.
Chs. 1-16. Jones, BOT, p. 166. DNRIDT.

*71. PARIS, B.N. lat. 16361, p. 18, s. xii, prov. Sorbonne. No incipit.

Gathering lost after title to ch. 2. Jones, BOT, p. 166. DNRIDT + DTR.
’ll. PARIS, B.N. Nouv. acq. lat. 1615 (Libri 90), fols. 135-140", s. ix,
Auxerre or Fleury?; provenance Fleury. Tncipit liber de temporibus’.
Mommsen, CM 3, 237; 242; Jones, BOT, p. 166; Mostert, The Library
of Fleury, p. 243 (BF1258). DTR + DNRIDT.

73. POMMERSFELDEN, Graflich Schonbornsche Bibliothek 53, fols.

13’-23", s. xii. Jones, CCSL 123C, 581 (no. 182). DNRIDT+DTR.
U4. PRAGUE, Narodm Knihovna IV C 4 [Universitatsbibliothek 630], fols.
240-241"; fols. 294"-296, s. xv. Two copies of the Chronica minora.
Mommsen, CM 3, 242; Rep. Chron.

75. ROUEN, Bibliotheque municipale A292 [26], fols. 173"-180, s. ix,
Jumieges. No capitula. Formulae in ch. 13 give AD 811 as annus
praesens. ‘Liber bede de temporibus’. Jones, BOT, p. 166; Rep. Chron.
DNRIDT.

76. ROUEN, Bibliotheque municipale U74 [1177], fols. 278"-282";
299-302 [Mommsen, ‘f. 229’], s. xii, Jumieges. Two copies of DT.

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(a) ‘Incipit libellus Bede presbyteri de temporibus minor. Tempora
momentis horis ... secundum LXX vm dcccc xxv. Explicit libellus Bede
de temporibus minor’ (evidently, a copy of a text transcribed in AD 727
[5925-5198 (years to the Incarnation according to the Septuagint) =
727]) (b) ‘Tempora momentis horis ... Artarxexes [^ic] annis xl Esdra
legem ...’ (ch. 21). Mommsen, CM 3, 242; Jones, CCSL 123C, 581
(no. 187) [but this is Rouen 1177, not 524, as Jones’s cross-reference
to CCSL 123B, 252 (no. 187) implies]; Rep. Chron. DTIDNR + DT.

77. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 248, pp. 92-98, s. ix, St Gall or northern
Erance. ‘Incipit secundus’. After ch. 15: ‘Finit liber ii. incipit de sex
aetatibus mundi’. Last page {Herminigildus rex ... Deo soli patet) lost.
Separate capitula, p. 227, s. xi. Mommsen, CM 3, 237; 242; Jones, EOT,
p. 166; Borst, Schriften, p. 288. DNRIDT + DTR. (Sg, KendallAVallis)

•78. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 250, pp. 146-63, ca. 889, St Gall. ‘De Tem¬
poribus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 237; 242. DTR + DNR/DTIDTR. (S, Jones)

+79. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 251, before 820, pp. 26-32, St Gall.
Mommsen, CM 3, 237; 242. DT chronicle + DNRIDTR. (H, Mommsen,
also KendallAVallis)

+80. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 570, s. ix, pp. 1-6, St Gall. Mommsen, CM
3, 242.

81. ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 878, pp. 262-76, AD 827-829, Fulda?
Walafrid’s computus. Mommsen, CM 3, 242. DNRIDT.

82. SCHAFFHAUSEN, Stadtbibliothek 61, fols. 9-15, s. x. ‘Incipiunt
capitula libri ii de temporibus’. Jones, EOT, p. 166. DNRIDT + DTR.

+83. SIENA, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati K X 23. Excerpts.
Mommsen, CM 3, 242.

84. STRASBOURG, Bibliotheque municipale 326, fols. II-IS^?), s. x.
Jones, EOT, p. 161; 167. DNRIDTIDTR.

85. STUTTGART, Wiirttembergische Landesbibliothek V 20, s. ix/x. Rep.
Chron.

86. TOURS, Bibliotheque municipale 334, s. ix. Rep. Chron. ', see Jones,
CCSL 123B, 253.

+87. TRIER, Stadtbibliothek/Stadtarchiv 1975/624 4°, fols. 357-358, s.
XV. Chs. 16-22. Laistner, p. 147; Jones, CCSL 123C, 583; Franz and
Lehnart, Karolingische Eeda-Handschrift, p. 68 (Westgard).

88. TRIER, Stadtbibliothek/Stadtarchiv 2500, fols. 149-156, s. ix, St
Maximin’s, Trier. Franz and Lehnart, Karolingische Eeda-Handschrift
(Westgard); Laistner’s Munich, ‘untraced’, p. 147; formerly Koblenz,
Gorrische Bibliothek 16; see also Jones EOT, p. 160. DNRIDTIDTR.

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INTRODUCTION

89. TURIN, Biblioteche Civiche 176, AD 926-950? St Gall? Mommsen,
CM 3, 242; Jones, CCSL 123C, 583.

90. VALENCIENNES, Bibliotheque municipale 174, Ms. 13''-22, s. ix, St
Amand. Tncipit liber de temporibus’. Jones, BOT, p. 167. DTK + DNRI
DT+DTR.

91. VALENCIENNES, Bibliotheque municipale 343, Ms. 8-13, s. x, St
Amand. Heavy glosses. ‘Liber bedae de temporibus’. Jones, BOT, p.
167. DTIDNR + DTR.

92. VATICAN CITY, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barberini lat. All,
fols. 88-99, s. xi. ‘Incipit liber de tempora et horis et momentis’. Jones,
BOT, p. 167. DNR/DT.

93. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Ottobon. lat. 6, Ms. 18''-22L s. xii. ‘Incipit
eiusdem de ratione temporum’. ‘Explicit breviarum bedae de tempo¬
ribus’. Mommsen, CM 3, 242; Jones, BOT, p. 167. DNR/DTIDTR (ch.
4 only).

+94. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Pal. lat. 973, s. ix/x. Mommsen, CM 3, 242.

95. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Pal. lat. 1447, Ms. 3-6, s. ix', Mainz. ‘Bede’s
De Temp in garbled form’. Ch. 1 from another source; ends with ch. 13.
‘This text is copied exactly in Pal. Lat. 1448, which also contains [DT
in fols. 82''-92]’. Jones, BP, p. 135; BOT, pp. 164-65; Laistner, p. 147;
Jones, CCSL 123C, 583.

96. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Pal. lat. 1448, fols. ?-?; 82''-92, s. ix'. Trier;
Mainz. Two copies of DT. The first is an exact copy of Pal. lat. 1447 (see
above). The second, fols. 82''-92: no incipit. Mommsen, CM 3, 242;
Jones, BP, p. 135; BOT, p. 164. Jones’s CCSL 123C, 581 (no. 212),
‘Ml. 3^-6'’, is probably meant for Pal. lat. 1447 (see CCSL 123B, 253
(no. 212). DT/DTR + DTIDTR. (P, Mommsen)

97. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Pal. lat. 1449, fols. 112''-! 17, s. ix, Mainz or
Lorsch. ‘Incipit liber de tempora et horis et momentis’. Jones, BOT, p.
167; Borst, Schriften, p. 300. DTR/DNRIDT + DTR.

•98. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Regin. lat. 123, fols. 18, 2T, 33", 46''M8'',
86", 95, 105, AD 1056, Ripoll. Scattered chapters (5, 7, 8, 17-22, 12,
11, 15) intermingled with chapters from DTR. Mommsen, CM 3, 236;
242; Jones, BOT, p. 167. (DTR + DT+DNR).

99. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Regin. lat. 755, fols. 93-95, s. x, St-Columba,
Sens (Jones); St-Trinite of Fecamp or St-Berthe of Blangy. Chs. 1-6
lost. ‘Explicit libellus minor bedae de temporibus’. Mommsen, CM 3,
236-37; 242; Jones, BOT, p. 167; Mostert, The Library of Fleury, p.
276 (BF1463). DTRIDNRIDT.

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100. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 1038, fols. 135''-139\ s. x. Tncipit
liber de temporibus’. A few lines are missing. Mommsen, CM 3, 242;
Jones, BOT, p. 167. DTR/DNRIDT.

101. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 1260, fols. 7''-12, s. ix, Eleury.
Careless; rubrics never filled in. Mommsen, CM 3, 242; Jones, BOT,
p. 167; Mostert, The Library of Eleury, p. 279 (BE1482). DNR/DT.

102. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Regin. lat. 1405, fols. 84-102, s. xi. Without
capitula. Tncipit eiusdem liber primus de temporibus’. Mommsen,
CM 3, 242; Jones, BOT, p. 167. DNR/DT.

T03.VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Rossi lat. 247, fols. 19''-23, s. AD 1018?
St-Chaffre du Monastier. Ends with ch. 14, which is split, as in
London, Egerton 3088, and Zurich, C 62. Tncipit secundus de ratione
temporum’. Jones, BOT, p. 167; Borst, Schriften, p. 308. DNR/DT +
DTR.

104. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Vat. lat. 642, fols. 6''-ll, s. xi, from Lyons.
Tncipit liber bedae de temporibus’. Jones, BOT, p. 167. DNR/DT +
DTR.

105. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Vat. lat. 643, fols. 9-15, s. xii, Melk? Tncipit
liber secundus’. Jones, BOT, p. 167. DNR/DT/DTR.

106. VATICAN CITY, B.A.V., Vat. lat. 644, fols. 7-11, s. x, St Gall. Chs.
1-3 lost. Heavy marginal glosses. Jones, BOT, p. 167. DNR/DT + DTR.

T07.VIENNA, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 557, s. xii. Mommsen,
CM 3, 242.

T08.VIENNA, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 580, s. xi. Chronicle
only. Mommsen, CM 3, 242; Laistner, p. 148; Jones, CCSL 123C, 583.

109. VIENNA, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek 3399, s. xvi. Rep.
Chron.

110. ZURICH, Zentralbibliothek C 62, s. x, fols. 232''-236, St Gall. Chs.
1-15. Chs. 1 and 2 combined. Ch. 5 (6) ‘De ordinatione romanorum’;
ch. 7 (8) ‘De iiii temporibus annis’. Ch. 13 (14) is split, as in London,
Egerton 3088, and Vatican City, Rossi 247. No chronicle. ‘Explicit
liber bedae de natura rerum et de ratione temporum’. Jones, BOT, p.
167. DNR/DT.

111. ZURICH, Zentralbibliothek Car C 176, fols. 182-187, s. x/xi. Chs.
1-16. ‘Incipit liber minor bede de temporibus’. DTR is said to be fols.
174-23U (Jones, CCSL 123B, 255). Jones, BOT, p. 167. DT/DNR
inserted into DTRl

112. ZWETTL, Zisterzienserstift 296, fols. 12''-20'', s. xii/xiii. HMML no.
6889. DNR/DT/DTR.

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INTRODUCTION

The following manuscripts listed or mentioned by Laistner, Jones, or others

have been excluded:

AMIENS, Bibliotheque municipale 222, DT, fols. 1-7'', s. ix. Incomplete.
Stevens, App. 1, p. 678. However, Jones, BOT, 149, who personally
examined the manuscript, assigns these folios to DTR. See DNR, no. 3.

BASEL, Universitatsbibliothek B IV 23, DNR. Laistner, p. 144, under
DOUBTFUL: ‘It is not clear that these excerpts are from DNR’’ ; omitted
without comment by Jones, CCSL 123A, 175.

CAMBRIDGE, St John’s College 221, DNR. Delete; confusion with DTR,
see Jones, CCSL 123A, 176.

CHARTRES, Bibliotheque municipale 19, DNR, fols. 87''-94'', s. x. Chapter
library. Destroyed. No title. ‘Finit liber primus’. DTR!DNR. Jones,
‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 431.

CHARTRES, Bibliotheque municipale 70, DNR, fols. 72-73, s. ix.
Destroyed. Began in ch. 44: ‘ut uinculis discurrentibus ...’ ‘Explicit
liber de naturis rerum’. Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 431.

CHARTRES, Bibliotheque municipale 80, DNR, s. ix, fols. 19-34'', St Pere.
Destroyed. Incomplete. Laistner, p. 140.

'DURHAM, Durham Cathedral, Hunter 100, DT, fols. 59''-60'', s. xii'. These
folios contain definitions based on Bede’s DTRIDNR, but which are not
actual quotations from these works. E.g., ‘De die. Duobus modis dicitur
dies. Naturaliter et uulgariter. ... De sole et luna et stellis. Sol dicitur eo
quod solus luceat. Et luna dicitur lucina. Stelle autem dicuntur a stando.
eo quod fixe sunt in firmamento ... ’.

EVREUX, Bibliotheque municipale 60, DNR, s. xii, Abbaye de Lyre. +
DTR. Laistner, p. 140; omitted without comment by Jones, CCSL
123A, 176. According to the Catalogue general des manuscrits 2, 438,
this MS contains only DTR.

EVREUX, Bibliotheque municipale 67, DNR, s. xii, Abbaye de Lyre. +
DTR. Laistner, p. 140; omitted without comment by Jones, CCSL
123A, 176. According to the Catalogue general des manuscrits 2, 439,
this MS contains only DTR.

KARLSRUHE, Landesbibliothek, Carol. 339, No. 1, DNR. Delete, see
Jones, CCSL 123A, 176.

KASSEL, Landesbibliothek 442, DNR. Delete, see Jones, CCSL 123A, 176.

LEIDEN, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BPL 154, fol. 87-87'', s. xii. Medieval
Manuscripts in Dutch Collections. Jones, CCSL 123B, 246, lists this
folio as belonging to DTR.

MUNICH, Staatsbibliothek 4423, DNR. Delete, see Jones, CCSL 123 A, 178.

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OXFORD, Merton College 88 (B. 1. 11), fols. 101-121. Laistner, p. 147,
followed by Jones, CCSL 123C, 582, erroneously identified this as
B ede ’ s shorter chronicle (DTI 7-22). However, it is clear from the incipiti
excipit recorded in Thomson, The Medieval Manuscripts of Merton
College, p. 82 (Tncipiunt chronica uenerabilis Bede presbiteri. Adam
annorum centum triginta genuit Seth ... tanto patri honore condidif)
that this is Bede’s Chronica maiora 66 (CCSL 123B, 465-535).

PARIS, B.N., Nouv. acq. lat. 2169, fols. 5''-9''. Jones, CCSL 123A, 180,
inserts this as an unnumbered cross-reference to LONDON, Cotton
Caligula A XV (above): see his note on the latter MS, CCSL 123A, 176.
However, fols. 5-9 are a compilation of computus argumenta. They
have been edited by Gomez Pallares, Studio Chronologica, pp. 67-76,
and do not contain any excerpt from DNR.

ST GALL, Stiftsbibliothek 299, DNR, fols. 293-300", s. ix^, St Gall. Glosses
for DNR, DT, and DTR, but no texts: see Jones, CCSL 123A, 181.

VATICAN CITY, B.A.V, Vat. lat. 1053, DNR. Delete, see Jones, CCSL
123A, 183.

VIENNA, Nationalbibliothek 12600, DNR, fols. 97-105, s. xii/xiii, from
Priifening. Jones, CCSL 123A, 183 (with asterisk indicating he person¬
ally examined the MS). But DTR is said to be fols. 42-135" (Jones,
CCSL 123B, 255); ‘doubtful’, Laistner, p. 144 See also Hermann,
Beschreibendes Verzeichniss der illuminierten Handschriften in Oster-
reich, pp. 73-81, and an article by an art historian who wrote her
thesis on this MS, who mentions only DTR on fols. 42-135: Trnek,
‘Die Darstellung der vier Elemente in Cod. 12600 der Osterreichischen
Nationalbibliothek in Wien’, 7-56. Neither of them indicate that DNR
is embedded in DTR.

EDITIONS OF BEDE’S DE NATURA RERUM
AND DE TEMPORIBUS

(A) De natura rerum

SICHARDUS (Basel, 1529). The editio princeps of De natura rerum, De
temporibus, and De temporum ratione, edited by John Sichardus, under
the title Bedae Presbyteri Anglosaxonis Viri Eruditissimi, de Natura
Rerum et Temporum Ratione Libri Duo. Sichardus ‘used an unknown
manuscript of French type’.*'^^ Sichardus, fols. l-6v.

142 Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 430.

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INTRODUCTION

NOVIOMAGUS (Cologne, 1537). Another edition of the three works on
nature and time, together with much other computistical material, edited
by John Bronchorst of Nijmegen (known as Noviomagus),''^^ under the
title Bedae opuscula complum de temporum ratione .... Noviomagus
used Cologne, Dombibliothek 103.'**^ Noviomagus 2, fols. l-23v.

HERVAGIUS (Basel, 1563; repr. Cologne, 1612, 1688). The first collec¬
tion of the complete works of Bede, in eight volumes, under the title
Opera Bedae Venerabilis presbyteri, Anglosaxonis: viri in diuinis atque
humanis Uteris exercitatissimi, edited by loannes Hervagius (Johann
Herwagen, the Younger). A reprint of Noviomagus, with additional
materials. Hervagius ‘used an inferior manuscript’ Hervagius 2,1-49.

MANSI (Lucca, 1761). A published transcript of Lucca, Biblioteca Capito-
lare 490 (our DNR, no. 54), edited by Gian Domenico Mansi in Stephani
Baluzii Tulelensis Miscellanea, vol. 1, pp. 423-28.

GILES (London, 1843). In vol. 6 of the complete works in twelve volumes,
Venerabilis Bedae Opera quae Supersunt Omnia, edited by J.A. Giles.
Giles, pp. 99-122, a reprint of Noviomagus and Hervagius, with some
material omitted.

MIGNE (Paris, 1850). In PL 90, ed. J.-P. Migne. Migne, cols. 187-278, a
reprint of Giles and Hervagius.

JONES (Tumhout, 1975). A new critical edition, prepared by Charles W.
Jones, in Bedae Opera Didascalica 1 (CCSL 123A, 173-234).

(B) De temporibus (chaps. 1-16)

SICHARDUS (Basel, 1529). See above. Sichardus, fols. 7-9v.

NOVIOMAGUS (Cologne, 1537). See above. Noviomagus 2, fols. 25-28v.

HERVAGIUS (Basel, 1563; repr. Cologne, 1612, 1688). See above. Herva¬
gius 2, 205-210v, a reprint of Noviomagus, with additional materials.

GILES (London, 1843). In vol. 6 of the complete works in twelve volumes,
Venerabilis Bedae Opera quae Supersunt Omnia, edited by J. A. Giles.
Giles, pp. 123-32, a reprint of Noviomagus and Hervagius, with some
material omitted.

MIGNE (Paris, 1850). In PL 90, ed. J.-P. Migne. Migne, cols. 277-88, a
reprint of Giles and Hervagius.

143 John (Jan van) Bronchorst (1494-1570) was a native of Nijmegen (Noviomagus) in

the Netherlands, not, as is sometimes asserted, Neumagen in Germany. For a bibliographical

notice, see IBN: Index Bio-Bibliographicus, partC:l, vol. 24,14054, and the references therein.

144 Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 430 {our DNR, no. 26IDT, no. 15).

145 Jones, ‘MSS of Bede’s DNR\ p. 430.

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BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

JONES (Cambridge, MA, 1943). A new critical edition, prepared by Charles
W. Jones, in Bedae Opera de Temporibus, pp. 293-303.

JONES (Turnhout, 1980). A reprint of Jones 1943, in Jones, Bedae Opera
Didascalica 3 (CCSL 123C, 579-601).

SICHARDUS (Basel, 1529). See above. Sichardus, fols. 10-1 Iv.

NOVIOMAGUS (Cologne, 1537). See above. Noviomagus 2, fols. 28v-29v.

HERVAGIUS (Basel, 1563; repr. Cologne, 1612, 1688). See above. Herva-
gius 2, 211-212, a reprint of Noviomagus.

GILES (London, 1843). In vol. 6 of the complete works in twelve volumes,
Venerabilis Bedae Opera quae Supersunt Omnia, edited by J. A. Giles.
Giles, pp. 132-38.

MIGNE (Paris, 1850). In PL 90, ed. J.-P. Migne. Migne, cols. 288-92, a
reprint of Giles and Hervagius.

MOMMSEN (Berlin, 1898). A critical edition of the shorter chronicle,
in Chronica minora 3 (MGH: AA 13), 223-354, edited by Theodore
Mommsen.

JONES (Turnhout, 1980). A reprint of Mommsen 1898, in Jones, Bedae
Opera Didascalica 3 (CCSL 123C, 601-611).

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BEDE

ON THE NATURE OE THINGS

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A POEM OF BEDE THE PRIEST

In brief chapters, I, Bede, the servant of God,

Have lightly touched on the varied natures of things
And on the broad ages of fleeting time. You who study
the stars above.

Fix your mind’s gaze, I pray, on the Light of the
everlasting day. 7190 /

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THE CHAPTERS OF ON THE NATURE OE THINGS

1. The Fourfold Work of God

2. The Formation of the World

3. What the World Is

4. The Elements

5. The Firmament

6. The Varied Height of Heaven

7. Upper Heaven

8. The Heavenly Waters

9. The Five Circles of the World

10. The Regions of the World

11. The Stars

12. The Course of the Planets

13. Their Order

14. Their Orbits

15. Why Their Colours Change

16. The Circle of the Zodiac

17. The Twelve Signs

18. The Milky Way

19. The Course and Size of the Sun

20. The Nature and Place of the Moon

21. Method for Determining the Course of the Moon through the Signs of
the Zodiac

22. The Eclipse of the Sun and the Moon

23. Where there Is No Eclipse and Why

24. Comets

25. The Air

26. The Winds

27. The Order of the Winds

28. Thunder

29. Lightning

30. Where Lightning Is Not and Why

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

31. The Rainbow

32. Clouds

33. Rains

34. Hail

35. Snow

36. Signs of Storms or Fair Weather

37. Pestilence

38. On the Dual Nature of the Waters 7191/

39. The Ocean’s Tide

40. Why the Sea does Not Grow in Size

41. Why It Is Bitter

42. The Red Sea

43. The Nile

44. That the Earth Is Bound by Waters

45. The Position of the Earth

46. That the Earth Is Like a Globe

47. The Circles of the Earth

48. More on the Same Subject; the Art of Using Sundials

49. Earthquake

50. The Eire of Mount Etna

51. The Division of the Earth

End of the Chapters of The Nature of Things 7192/

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THE BOOK OF THE NATURE OE THINGS

1. The Fourfold Work of God'

The divine power, which created and governs all existing things, can be
understood in four different ways:^ First, that all these things were not made
but are eternal in the dispensation of the Word of God,^ who, as the Apostle
testifies, predestined us* for his kingdom before the times of the world?

Second, that the elements of the world were made all at the same time in
unformed matter, when he who lives eternally created everything at once?

Third, that the same matter is formed into a heavenly and an earthly
creation, partly from existing causes, and partly from causes not yet existing,’’
but each thing coming into existence by the distinct workings of the first six
days.

Fourth, that the temporal constitution of the whole world is brought
about in the natural course of things by the seeds and primordial causes^
of this same creation, wherein the Father and the Son work right up to the
present, and God even feeds the ravens^ and clothes the lilies}’’

2 . The Formation of the World

Af the very beginning of creation, heaven, earth, the angels, air, and water
were made from nothing. Indeed, light was made on the first day /193/ and

1 Cf. Augustine, Confessiones 12.7-8; Junilius, Departibus 1.19 (PL 68, 23-24).

2 See Commentary.

3 Augustine, DGAL 6.10 (CSEL 28.1, 182.18-19).

4 Eph. 1:5.

5 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2. See Commentary.

6 Ecclesiasticus 18:1, quoted in Augustine, DGAL 6.10 (CSEL 28.1, 182.19-20).

7 Augustine, DGAL 6.10 (CSEL 28.1, 182.20-21). Augustine is distinguishing between
instantaneous and diachronic creation from rationes seminales — a distinction Bede later takes
up in DTR 5 (ed. Jones, 286-87; The Reckoning of Time, trans. Wallis, pp. 20-21).

8 Augustine, DGAL 6.10 (CSEL 28.1, 182.23-24).

9 Luke 12:24.

10 Luke 12:27. Plummer, BOH 1, xxxviii, stressed the importance of Bede’s insistence on
natural law in this sentence. We think rather that the key idea here is God’s providence as a
continuation of creative action.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

it was made from nothing. On the second, the firmament was made in the
midst of the waters. On the third, the visible form of sea and earth was
made," together with those things that adhere to the earth by the rootsd^
On the fourth, the lights of heaven were made from the light that was made
on the hrst day. On the fifth, swimming and flying things were made from
the waters. On the sixth, the rest of the animals were made from the earth,
and man^^ was created, in the flesh of course from the earth, but in the soul
from nothing. He was placed in paradise, which God had planted from the
beginning I'* On the seventh God rested, not from the governance of creation,
since in him we live, and move, and are,'^ but from the creation of new
material. 7194/

3. What the World Is

The world is the entire universe, which consists of heaven and earth,
rounded out of four elements into the appearance of a complete sphere'N out
of fire, by which the stars shine; out of air, by which all living things breathe;
out of the waters, which barricade the earth by surrounding and penetrating
it; and out of earth itself, which is the middle and lowest portion of the
world. It hangs suspended, motionless, with the universe whirling around
itfi But heaven is also called by the word ‘mundus’, meaning ‘elegant’
from its perfect and absolute elegance for it is called ‘cosmos’ by the
Greeks from its adornment.^' 7195/

4. The Elements

The elements differ from one another both by nature and by position. For
earth, since it is the heaviest substance and that which cannot be supported
by another substance, holds the lowest place among created things. Water
is as much lighter than earth as it is heavier than air. If perchance air is

11 Junilius, De partibus 2.2 (PL 68, 25).

12 Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram imperfectus liber 11.35 (PL 34, 234).

13 Junilius, De partibus 2.2 (PL 68, 25).

14 Gen. 2:8.

15 Acts 17:28.

16 Isidore, DNR 9.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 207).

17 Pliny, A//2.2.5.

18 Pliny, A//2.4.11.

19 The Latin noun mundus can mean ‘world’ or ‘the heavens’; the adjective mundus means
‘elegant’.

20 Pliny, AA 2.3.8.

21 Isidore, f/ym. 13.1.2.

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introduced under the water in any vessel, it at once escapes to the upper
parts, since it is lighter^^ Likewise fire that is kindled by matter constantly
seeks its natural place above the air, but, lest it reach that place, it vanishes
into the milcF^ air, by the circumfusion of which it is suppressed.^"'

These elements nevertheless are so mingled with each other by a certain
affinity of nature that dry and cold earth is associated with cold water, cold
and moist water is associated with moist air, moist and hot air is associated
with hot fire; 7196/ and hot and dry fire is associated with earth}^ Hence
we not only see fire in the earth but also clouds and earthy bodies in the air.

5. The Firmament^'’

Heaven is of a fine and fiery nature, and round and arranged on all sides at
equal distances from the centre of the earth. Hence it appears to be vaulted
and centred wherever it may be viewed. Those who are knowledgeable about
the world have stated that it revolves daily with indescribable swiftness,^^
so that it would destroy itself if it were not restrained by the countervailing
course of the planets. They make this claim upon the evidence of the stars,
which always revolve in a fixed course with the northern stars making
tighter circles around the axis.^* They call its extremities, around which
the sphere of heaven revolves, the poles, which shrivel with the icy cold.^*
One of them, mounting up in the north 7197/ is called the North Pole; the
other, sloping downwards to the south^° and directly opposite the land [of the
northern hemisphere], is called the South Pole, which holy Scripture calls
The chambers of the south’

22 See Commentary.

23 A ninth-century glossator (Berlin, Phillipps 1832; our DNR, no. 10) glosses mollem
as aquaticum (see DNR apparatus, CCSL 123A, 195), which seems right. Lower air (the air
immediately surrounding and blanketing the eai1h) was understood to be suffused with water,
and just as terrestrial fire had to be fed with matter it was extinguished by water.

24 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 4.5-6 (Diaz y Di'az, pp. 106-8; PL 83, 922).

25 Ambrose, Hex. 3.4.18 (CSEL 32, 7L18-72.10); Isidore, DNR 11.2 (Fontaine, Traite,
p.215).

26 The firmament is distinguished from the upper heaven which is above it (see ch. 7,
below).

27 Pliny, A//2.3.5-6.

28 Augustine, DGAL 2.10 (CSEL 28.1, 48.3-4).

29 Cf. Isidore, Historia de regibus. Prologue [encomium to Hispania] (PL 83, 1057):
[Hispania], nec glaciali rigore tabescis, ‘[Spain], you do not shrivel with icy cold’. See
Commentary.

30 Vergil, Georg. 1.241.

31 Job 9:9.

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6. The Varied Height of Heaven

But the world^^ does not rise up at this higher pole so that these stars may
be visible everywhere. The fact is that the same stars that are thought to be
higher up by those who are nearest them seem to be submerged by those who
are distant. And just as this pole now seems high to persons placed on this
slope, so to those who crossed over to that downward slope of the earth other
stars rise up, and the ones which had been lofty in this place set,^^ as the
curvature of the earth blocks the intervening view,^^^ to such an extent that
the seven stars,^^ which hang from our perspective from the pole, appear in
some places in India only for fifteen^^ days in the year7’

7. Upper Heaven

The heaven of the upper orbit set apart by its own boundary and 7198/
located at an equal distance in every direction [from the earth at the centre]
is the dwelling place of the angelic powers. These, in order to visit us,
take ethereal bodies for themselves so that they can be like men even in
eating, and they lay aside the same when they return there. God tempered
this heaven with icy waters lest it set fire to the lower elements. Hence he
established the lower heaven not with uniform but with complex motion,
calling it the firmament’ on account of its supporf^ of the upper waters.

8. The Heavenly Waters

Some people maintain that the waters placed above the firmament, lower
indeed than the spiritual heavens but nevertheless superior to every
corporeal creation, 7199/ were reserved for the inundation of the Flood, but
others claim more correctly that they were suspended to temper the fire of
the stars.‘^°

32 Mundus, i.e., the heavenly sphere, not the earth.

33 Pliny, 2.71.179.

34 Pliny, 2.71.177.

35 I.e., the Little Bear.

36 Pliny, A^//2.75.184.

37 In other words, in the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere, the Little Bear is high
overhead; further south, it is closer to the horizon.

38 sustentationem, GSg, Giles, Migne, Isidore; sustentionem, Jones.

39 Isidore, DNR 13.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 225).

40 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 3.4-5 (Diaz y Diaz, pp. 102—4; PL 83, 920-21). The ‘others’ are
Ambrose {Hexameron 2.3) and Jerome: see Picard, ‘Bede and Irish Scholarship’, p. 141.

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9, The Five Circles of the World

The world is divided by five circles In accordance with these divisions
some regions are inhabited by reason of their moderate temperatures, and
some are uninhabitable because of their excess of cold or heatf^ The first
is the northern zone, uninhabitable from the cold, the stars of which never
set from our sightThe second is the summer solstitial, extending from
the highest part of the zodiac toward our northern region, temperate and
habitable^^ The third is the equinoctial, occupying the middle circuit of
the zodiac, torrid and uninhabitableThe fourth is the winter solstitial,
extending from the lowest part 7200/ of the zodiac toward the southern pole,
temperate and habitable^^ The fifth is the southern zone around the southern
pole, which is hidden [from our sight] by [the bulge of] the earth, uninhab¬
itable by reason of the cold."^^

The three middle circles mark the differences of the seasons, since the
sun occupies one^° at the summer solstice, another^^ at the equinox, and

41 Isidore, DNR 10.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 209). See Commentary.

42 Isidore, Etym. 3.44.1.

43 Pliny, NH 2.71.177; Isidore, DNR 10.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 209). I.e., the North Frigid
zone from North Pole to the Arctic Circle.

44 Pliny, A//2.70.177; Isidore,/) AT? 10.2 (Fontaine, 7’raT^',p. 209). I.e., the North Temperate
zone from the Arctic Circle to the Tropic of Cancer. The ‘highest part of the zodiac’ = the point
at which sun’s path (the ecliptic) touches the Tropic of Cancer at the summer solstice.

45 Pliny, NH 2.70.177; Isidore, DNR 10.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 209). I.e., the Torrid zone
on either side of the equator from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn. The assertion
that the Torrid zone was uninhabitable continued to be made up to the fifteenth century, when
it was repeated by Pierre d’Ailly in his Imago Mundi. Columbus jotted a note in the margin of
his copy refuting the assertion on the basis of his own observation of the lai'ge population of
the Portuguese trading citadel of Mina on the Gold Coast of Africa. See Morison, Admiral of
the Ocean Sea, p. 41.

46 Pliny, NH 2.70.177; Isidore, DNR 10.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 209). I.e., the South
Temperate zone from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Antarctic Circle. The ‘lowest part of the
zodiac’ = the point at which sun’s path (the ecliptic) touches the Tropic of Capricorn at the
winter solstice.

47 Bede makes his meaning clearer in DTR 34, where he states that the southern zone ‘is
always hidden from us because the Earth blocks it out’ (Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 98).
Cf. Pliny, NH 2.71.177-78, for extended treatment of the effect of the earth’s curvature.

48 Isidore, DNR 10.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 209). I.e., the South Frigid zone from the
Antarctic Circle to the South Pole.

49 Pliny, A//2.70.177.

50 The Tropic of Cancer.

51 The equator.

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the third®^ at the winter solstice.®^ For the outermost ones^"* always lack the
sun.^® Hence the sea is found to be frozen one day’s sail to the north from
the island of Thule.^*’

10. The Regions of the World

There are four quarters, that is, regions, of the world: the eastern from
sunrise at the summer solstice [21 June] to sunrise at the winter solstice
[21 December]; the southern from there^’ to sunset at the winter solstice;
the western from there^® to sunset at the summer solstice; and then the
northem^'^ from sunset at the summer solstice to sunrise of the same region
[at the summer solstice].®®

Of these, the eastern and western regions are called 7201/ the gates of
heaven N They are thought to be equal only for people placed in the middle
of the earth,for the day of the winter solstice is shorter for those living in
the north, and the longer day of the summer solstice, spreading out its rising
and setting, diminishes the other regions.®® Likewise for people in the south®'^
each of the aforesaid days being less extreme [in variation]®® changes the
above-mentioned difference, although everywhere the setting of the winter
solstice corresponds to the rising of the summer solstice upon the same
line.®® And therefore in the same way the setting of the sun always matches
each and every rising of the sun after six months.®®

52 The Tropic of Capricorn.

53 Marking the beginning of summer, of spring and fall, and of winter, respectively.

54 The Arctic and Antarctic Circles.

55 Possibly, in the sense that they never receive the vertical rays of the sun as the Tropic
of Cancer does at the summer solstice, the Tropic of Capricorn at the winter solstice, and the
equator at the two equinoxes, which is the point made in the previous sentence.

56 Cf. DTI and DTR^l and 34.

57 I.e., from sunrise at the winter solstice.

58 I.e., from sunset at the winter solstice.

59 Isidore, Etym. 3.42.1 (the italicized words only).

60 Pliny, NH 2.79.188 (the italicized words only).

61 Isidore, Etym. 3.40.

62 I.e., halfway between the North Pole and the equator.

63 See Commentary.

64 I.e., below 45° N.

65 I.e, as you go south, the longest day of the year gets shorter and the shortest day longer.

66 See Commentary and Figure 2 (p. 144).

67 Cf. Pliny, NH 2.69.176. This sentence restates and generalizes the preceding one. See
Commentary.

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11. The Stars

The stars, borrowing their light from the sun, are said to turn with the world
since they are fixed in one place, as opposed to being carried unfixed, with
the world standing still. The exception is those 12021 that are called planets,
that is, wanderers. The brightness of the full moon and the eclipse of the
sun prove that they are concealed by the advent of the day and never sink
from the sky,^'^ although we see particles of fire fallen from the ether being
carried by the winds, and resembling the light of a wandering star,^° which
forecast the imminent rise of violent winds But some stars are productive
of moisture released in liquid form, others of congealed moisture in the form
of frost or of compacted moisture in the form of snow or of icy moisture in
the form of hailstorms, others of a breeze of gentle warmth, others of heat,
others of moisture, others of cold. It is not only the planets, like Saturn,
whose transits bring rain, but also certain stars that are fixed to the heavens,
since they have been stimulated by the approach of the planets or by their
rays, like the Little Pig in the forehead of Taurus, which for this reason
the Greeks call the Hyades from the word for rain. And indeed some stars
are stimulated spontaneously at fixed times, like the rising of the Haedi,
7203/ and of Arcturus which ascends on 13 September with a tempestuous
hailstorm,'''^ and like’^ stormy Orion^'^ and Canicula which, giving off exces¬
sive heat, rises on 18 July.^^

12. The Course of the Planets

Seven stars, which are called wanderers,^^ hang between heaven and earth,
separated by fixed intervals.'’^ They move in a course contrary to the world,

68 Isidore, DNR 22.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 255).

69 Isidore, DNR 24.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 261). Isidore’s fuller explanation is that some
stars disappear at night when the moon is full and that some appear during the day when the
sun is eclipsed.

70 Isidore, DNR 25.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 263).

71 Pliny, NH 2.36.100. That shooting stars ‘forecast’ high winds is clearer from Pliny’s
wording than it is from Bede’s.

72 Pliny, NH 2.39.105-6; cf. NH 2.47.124 (Pliny states that the rise of Arctums occurs 11
days before the autumnal equinox, i.e., 11 days before the 8* kalends of October or September
24).

73 et lit, G^Sg, Giles, Migne; et, Jones.

74 Vergil, 1.535.

75 Pliny, V//2.40.107; cf. V/7 2.47.123 (oddly, Pliny gives the date of the rise of Canicula as
15 days before the kalends of August [17 July] rather than the 15'^ kalends of August [18 July]).

76 I.e., moon. Mercury, Venus, sun. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

77 Pliny, V//2.4.12.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

that is, to the left, with the world always advancing to the rightAnd
although they are borne along by it with a constant revolution of great
speed and are precipitated toward the west, nevertheless they are observed
to go with an opposite motion through their own several tracks, wandering
now lower, now higher,^° on account of /204/ the obliquity of the zodiac.
But, impeded by the rays of the sun, they become irregular, or retrograde,
or stationaryN

13. Their Order

The highest of the planets is the star of Saturn, freezing cold by nature,*^
completing a circuit of the zodiac in thirty years.Next is the star of Jupiter,
temperate, completing its circuit in twelve years. Third is the star of Mars,
blazing hot, completing its circuit in two years. In the middle is the sun,
completing its circuit in 365 days and a quarter.*^ Beneath the sun is Venus,
which /205/ is also called Lucifer and Vesper, completing its circuit in 348
days. It never recedes further from the sun than 46 degrees.Next to it is
the star of Mercury, with a circuit swifter by nine days. Sometimes it shines
before the rising of the sun, sometimes after its setting. It is never remoter
from the sun than 22 degrees.^^ Last is the moon,^^ accomplishing its course
in 27 and 1/3 days, thereafter lingering in company with the sun for two
days.^^

At the maximum the stars of Saturn and of Mars do not appear in the
sky for 170 days, the star of Jupiter for 36 days or at the minimum for ten
days less, of Venus for 68 days or at the minimum for 52, of Mercury for 13
days or at the most 18.^° For moving with the sun, they are hidden', they are

78 See Commentary.

79 Pliny, 2.6.32-33.

80 Isidore, DNR 22.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 255).

81 Isidore, Etym. 3.66.3; DNR 22.3 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 255).

82 Pliny, 2.6.32.

83 Cf. Pliny, A^//2.6.34.

84 Cf. Pliny, A^//2.6.32.

85 Pliny, A^//2.6.34-35.

86 The modern value is roughly 48°.

87 Pliny, NH 2.6.36-39. The modern value for maximum elongation is roughly 27°.

88 Pliny, A^//2.6.41.

89 Pliny, NH 2.6.44 (the phrase non conparere in caelo belongs with the next sentence,
not this one, as a comparison with Pliny texts shows). 27 1/3 days = the zodiacal lunar month
(sidereal period); 291^2 days = the regular lunai* month (synodic period). See ch. 21 below.

90 Pliny, NH 2.15.78. Pliny gives the maximum for Mercury as 17, but some MSS read 18.

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never more than eleven degrees from the sun when they rise,®' and indeed
they sometimes rise seven degrees from it.®^

14. Their Orbits

All of the planets have their individual orbits, which in the case of the stars
the Greeks call ‘apsidae’ [‘arcs’], and they differ from those of the world,
because the earth is the centre of the sky 7206/ between the two vertices that
the Greeks called ‘poles’, and also of the zodiac which is placed obliquely
between them. And all these lattef^^ are always in agreement with the precise
measurement of a pair of compasses. Therefore, the arcs of the planets arise
from a unique centre for each, and for that reason they have diverse orbits
and dissimilar motions, since it is necessary that the inner arcs be shorter.
Therefore, the arcs that are highest above the centre of the earth are those
of Saturn in Scorpio, Jupiter in Virgo, Mars in Leo, the sun in Gemini, Venus
in Sagittarius, Mercury in Capricorn, and of the moon in Taurus,'^* at the
midpoints of each; and the arcs that are lowest and nearest to the centre of
the earth are opposite. Thus it happens that the planets seem to be propelled
more slowly when they are carried along the highest circuit, not because
they accelerate or retard their natural motions, which are fixed and unique
to each of them, but because it is necessary that lines drawn from the peak of
the arc come together at the centre, like the spokes of a wheel, and the same
motion is felt to be at one time greater and at another time lesser, depending
upon the proximity of the centre.

Moreover, that their motion increases as long as they are in the vicinity
of the earth and diminishes as they move away on high is proved especially
by the greatest altitudes IIQII of the moonJ^ If you wish to know more fully
about these matters, read Pliny the Elder from whom I have taken these
extracts.

91 Pliny, NH 2.12.59. Pliny specifically restricts this statement to the three outer planets.

92 We have not found any source for Bede’s final statement in this sentence.

93 I.e., the five circles of the world (see ch. 9) and the circle of the zodiac.

94 Lunae in Tauro, Giles; Migne; om. Jones. Some editors of Pliny (Mayhoff,

Rackham) incorporate the words Lunae in Tauro into their text of NH 2.13.64 on the strength
of this reading in at least 13 Bede manuscripts (our DNR, nos. 4, 11, 64-66, 78, 92, 99, 101,
127-28, 135, 136a). See Jones, CCSL 123A, 174 (hand-list no. 3, Angers, 476).

95 Pliny, A//2.13.63-64.

96 Pliny, A//2.13.68.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

15. Why Their Colours Change

Assuredly, each of the planets has its own colour. Saturn is white, Jupiter is
shining. Mars is fiery, Lucifer is cheery,*^ Vesper glistens. Mercury beams,
the moon is alluring, and the sun glows at sunrise before it becomes day.®*
But the variation of their altitudes tempers their colours, since as they
ascend they take on the likeness of the planets into whose air they have
come, and the circle of another’s path tinges the planets approaching on
either side, a colder circle to pallor, a hotter one to redness, a windy one to
chillness, while the sun and the conjunctions of their arcs and their outer¬
most orbits turn them to gloomy darkness.'^

16. The Circle of the Zodiac

The Zodiac, or Signbearer, is an oblique circle, consisting of twelve signs,
through which the planets are carried. What lies beneath it /208/ is the only
habitable part on earth, the remaining parts beneath the poles lie waste.
Only the planet Venus passes beyond it by two degrees.^^^ The moon also
wanders through its entire width, without ever passing beyond it. The planet
Mercury differs very broadly from these in its wanderings, but nonetheless
in such a way that it wanders not more than eight out of twelve degrees (for
the zodiac is that many degrees in width): and these eight not equally, but
two in its middle, and four above it, and two below it. Finally, the sun is
carried unevenly in the middle of the zodiac between two degrees in a wavy,
dragonlike motion,^^^ the planet Mars is carried through four degrees in the
middle, Jupiter along the middle and two degrees above it, and Saturn is
carried through two degrees like the sun.™

97 gaudens, Bede; candens, ‘bright white’, Pliny.

98 Where Bede has postea dies, ‘before it becomes day’, Pliny reads post{ea) radians,
‘afterwards radiant’. Lucifer = Venus as the morning star; Vesper = Venus as the evening star.

99 Pliny, V//2.16.79.

100 Technically the region of the earth that lies ‘beneath’ the zodiac extends from the Tropic
of Cancer in the north to the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. Here, however, all the region of
the earth between the Arctic and the Antarctic circles is considered to be ‘beneath’ the zodiac.
Only the regions from the poles to the polar circles are outside this zone.

101 In modem terms, the zodiac by definition embraces the paths of all the planets (except
Pluto), extending about 8° on either side of the ecliptic. Pliny and Bede put the width of the
zodiac at 12° (see below).

102 The ecliptic is the apparent path of the sun, so there is no apparent sense in which the
sun’s course can be said to be wavy or to be carried between two degrees. Since Bede knew
perfectly well that the sun’s course was undeviating, it is unclear why he quotes Pliny to this
effect here and repeats Pliny’s idea in DTR 26. See Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 77, n. 239.

103 Pliny, V//2.13.66-67.

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17. The Twelve Signs

The twelve signs took their names either from factors connected to the
course of the year or from the fables of the pagans. For the pagans assign
Aries [the Ram] to the month of March on account of Jupiter Ammow, hence
also in its image they depict the horns of a ram. They assign Taurus [the
Bull] to April on account of the same Jupiter because according to fable he
was transformed into a bull. Castor and Pollux [Gemini] 7209/ to May as an
emblem of virtue, then Cancer [the Crab] to June when the sun turns again
toward its lower orbits, because when a crab is struck, it is accustomed
to direct its course backwards, and Leo [the Lion] which Hercules killed,
to July on account of the strength of heat. They take Virgo [the Virgin]/or
August because at that time the earth which is burned out by the heat of
summer produces nothing, Libra [the Scales] for September on account of
the equality of day and night, Scorpio [the Scorpion] and Sagittarius [the
Archer], who was deformed by his horse legs, for October and November
on account of the lightning of those months. They assign Capricorn [the
Goat] to December on account of the she-goat nurse of Jupiter. Its extremi¬
ties are depicted in the semblance of a fish, because the final days of this
month are rainy. They assign Aquarius [the Water Bearer] to January and
Pisces [the Fishes] to February because they are rainy months. In respect to
the individual signs their thirty degrees are considered truly three decades
because the sun courses 7210/ through them in thirty days and ten and a half
hours, beginning always from the middle of the month, that is, from the day
of the IS* kalends.

18. The Milky Way

The Milky Way is a rather white shape across the middle of the highest point
of the sky. It is commonly said to shine in this way because of the radiance
of the sun which runs in it.'“ But this is erroneous, since it is never touched
by the sun except in part of Sagittarius and Gemini, in which the zodiac
intersects the Milky Way.

104 De causis, pp. 665-67; Isidore, Etym. 3.71.23-32. Bede’s wording derives from De
causis, which in turn is based partly on Isidore, but Bede evidently took some phrasing directly
from Isidore. See Commentary.

105 Cf. Isidore, Etym. 13.5.7. Bede here corrects Isidore without naming him, as di Pilla,
‘Cosmologia', pp. 141^2, and McCready, ‘Bede and the Isidorian Legacy’, p. 52 and nn.
41^2, point out.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

19. The Course and Size of the Sun

They say that the fire of the sun is fed by water,^°^ and that the sun is larger
hy far than the moon,*®^ hut that the moon is greater than the earth.'®* Hence
the sun appears 7211/ to he of one and the same size to all, because the
distance of its exceeding height makes it seem to us as if it were a cubit in
diameter^°^ - otherwise it would appear larger to the Indians when rising
and to the Britons when setting. While it is by nature it also increases
its heat by the exceeding swiftness of its motion.™ By its varied course it
divides the days and months, the seasons and years, and by approaching and
withdrawing it distributes the temperature of the air for the reckoning of the
seasons,™ lest, if it always tarried in the same region, heat should destroy
some part, and cold some other.

20. The Nature and Place of the Moon

The moon is said neither to diminish nor to increase, but rather, illuminated
by the sun™ on the side which it has toward it, to turn the bright or the dark
side gradually to us either by receding from the sun or by approaching it."*
7212/ And indeed as the day grows longer, they say that the new moon is
seen bent backwards and ascending to the north, since it is superior to the
sun, but as the day grows shorter that it is upright and cast down to the south,
and when it is opposite to the sun that it is always full, being elevated with
respect to the low sun and low with respect to the elevated sun.™ They say
that it shines for an additional 47V2 minutes each day from the day after the
new moon to the full moon, and by the same amount less back to the new
moon, but that within 14 degrees of the sun it is always hidden.™ And they

106 Isidore, Etym. 3.49.

107 Cf. Isidore, Etym. 3.48.

108 Cf. Pliny, NH 2.8.49. Isidore, Etym. 3.48, on the contrary, states that the earth is larger
than the moon. Isidore’s statement appears to be taken directly from Cassiodorus, Instit. 2.7, c.
1218. This is another instance of Bede’s silently correcting Isidore. Of course, in hindsight we
know that Isidore was right and Pliny and Bede wrong. See below, ch. 22.

109 Isidore, Etym. 3.47.

no Isidore, fry™. 3.49.

111 Isidore, fry™. 3.51.2.

112 Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos 10.3.28-29 (CSEL 93/lA, 222); cf. DTK 25.15
(CCSL 123B, 357); Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 75.

113 I.e., as the moon moves away from or towards conjunction with the sun.

114 Pliny, NH 2.60.151 (curiously, Pliny is talking about rainbows, not the moon, but the
principle is the same). For an explanation of the astronomical facts that Bede is presenting in
this difficult sentence, see Commentary.

115 Pliny, A//2.11.58.

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say that the last 7213/ and the first day of the moon is visible on the same
day or night in no other sign than Aries.

21. Method for Determining the Course of the Moon through the Signs
of the Zodiac"**

The moon traverses the zodiac thirteen times in twelve [synodic] lunar
months, which means that it runs through each individual sign in two days,
six hours, and bes™ that is, 8/12 of one hour."® Therefore, if you want to
know what sign the moon is located in, take the day of the moon that you
wish to calculate from: as for example"** the 12'*'. Multiply by 4, which
makes 48. Divide by 9 (9 times 5 is 45'^°). Therefore, because five signs
have been traversed since the new moon appeared (which is certainly always
lighted in the same constellation as the sun*^*), the twelfth moon is now in
the sixth sign. Thus, if the remainder is one, you know that six hours of this
next sign have been completed; if two, twelve; if three, eighteen; if four, a
whole day; if eight, eight times six hours, that is, two days have been added.
But always remember to subtract two of these hours for every three signs.
For it is very tiresome to divide the hours in each sign step by step into
twelfths.Hence, in the present example, although after dividing by nine
there is a remainder of three, the twelfth moon will fill out, not 18, but 16
hours of the sixth sign. And indeed as long as this moon arises at the begin-

116 CI.DTR 17.

117 Bes was a technical term for 2/3 of a unit. Bede evidently felt that his audience would
not understand it without explanation. Neither does he expect his readers to use it for the
purpose of calculation.

118 The calculation for a single sign is evidently a backward calculation from a measured
zodiacal lunar month (sidereal period) (= the time it takes the moon to make one complete
circuit of the zodiac) of 27 1/3 days (27 1/3 days divided by 12 = 2 days and 6 2/3 hours), which
figure Bede takes from Pliny (see ch. 13 above). The modern figure for the sidereal period of the
moon is 27.32166 days (Chartrand, Field Guide, p. 634). The zodiacal lunar month contrasts
with the regular lunar month (synodic period), measured from full moon to full moon, of 29Vi
days. The modem figure for the synodic period of the moon is 29.53059 days (Chartrand, Field
Guide, p. 634). Thirteen zodiacal lunar months of 27 1/3 days = 355 1/3 days. Twelve regular
lunar months of 29^/2 days = 354 days.

119 utpote in the sense of utputa (see N^CL). See DTR 17.6.

120 quadragies quinquis was apparently a kind of schoolboy numerical jargon for
quadraginta quinque. Bede records the form quinquis in The Reckoning of Time 4 {DTR 4.30,
ed. Jones, p. 185). Cf. Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 17, n. 30.

121 The new moon is always (more or less) in the same direction from the earth as the sun
(known technically as ‘conjunction’), and therefore in the same sign or constellation.

122 Bede’s explanation of bes above as 8/12 of an hour implies dividing the hour into units
of twelfths.

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ning or in the middle of any sign whatever, the computation is easy; but if
it arises at some other time, you must remember to subtract or add to the
results as many parts [of the sign] as the moon, when it was lighted in the
first sign, either took away or retained.

You reckon nine hours of the moon for every five days of the sun.'^'* 7214/

22. The Eclipse of the Sun and the Moon

They tell us that the sun is hidden by the intervention of the moon, and the
moon by the interposition of the earthP^ But eclipses of the sun occur only
at the last or the first day of the moon, which is called a ‘conjunction’,
and eclipses of the moon only at the full moonfi^ And the whole sun could
not be occluded by the moon coming between the earth, if the earth were
greater than the moon.™ Moreover eclipses of both heavenly bodies take
place yearly at fixed days and hours below the earth; and yet even when they
occur above the earth they cannot be discerned everywhere, sometimes on
account of clouds, more often because the earth’s sphere blocks the vault
of the heavens.™ And sometimes 7215/ an eclipse of the moon takes place
in the fifth month after the previous one, and an eclipse of the sun in the
seventh month. The latter is eclipsed twice in thirty days above the earth,
but this is seen by different peoples.™ Sometimes both heavenly bodies have

123 Since the moon advances through a sign in just a little more than one day (1 day and
3 1/3 hours), the calculation will give the (approximate) right answer whether you count the
days of the moon from a new moon just entering the sign or from a new moon half way through
the sign (if it were the 12* day of the moon in the former case, it would be the 11* day in the
latter). But if the new moon enters the sign at some other point, say a quarter of the way through
the sign or a quarter of the way before the sign, you have to subtract or add the appropriate
number of hours accordingly.

124 This is Bede’s calculation of the ratio of the zodiacal lunar month (27 1/3 days) to
the solar year (365V^ days): i.e., the moon advances through the zodiac as fai‘ in nine hours as
the sun advances in five days (the ratio is 3:40). He does not reveal how he derived this ratio.
Perhaps he began with a normalized solar year of 365 days, and then observed that live days
is 1/73 of 365. That being the case, what is 1/73 of 27 1/3 days? The answer is eight hours and
59+ minutes. 27 1/3 days = 656 hours; nine hours X 73 = 657 hours. The approximation is very
close. (In DTR 18, Bede calculates with the slightly less accurate ratio of 1:13.)

125 Pliny, 2.7.47.

126 Pliny, 2.10.56.

127 Pliny, NH 2.8.49. The logic of Pliny’s argument for the relative size of the earth and the
moon is faulty, but Bede accepts it. See above, ch. 20, and Commentary.

128 Pliny, A^//2.10.56.

129 Pliny explicitly states that Hipparchus discovered these facts about eclipses. However,
if by super terras, ‘above the earth’, Pliny means the northern hemisphere, he misunderstands
or misrepresents what Hipparchus probably said. Rackham, in the Loeb edition of Pliny,

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been eclipsed in [an interval of] fifteen days}^° Once long ago, the moon
was eclipsed at sunset in a strange fashion, while both heavenly bodies were
visible above the earth.™ But in order that an eclipse might not occur every
month, the width of the zodiac carries the moon higher or lower.

23. Where there Is No Eclipse and Why

Inhabitants of the East do not experience eclipses of the sun and moon in
the evening, nor do those inhabiting the West experience eclipses in the
morning,™ because of the obstruction of the earth’s sphere. For, although
night and day are the same over the whole world,™ they do not occur at
the same time over the whole world, as the contrary position of the sphere
[of the heavens] brings night or its revolution brings day.™ For in the time
of Alexander the Great the moon was eclipsed in Arabia'^® at the second
hour of the night, just as the same eclipsed moon was rising in Sicily. And
Campania experienced an eclipse of the sun, which was on the 30* of April
in the consulship of Ipsanius and Fontegius,™ between the seventh and the
eighth hour of the day, while Armenia experienced it between the tenth and
the eleventh hour.™ 12161

explains that ‘one eclipse [is visible] to the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, the other to
those of the southern’. That this is what Hipparchus meant is made clear by Ptolemy’s discus¬
sion in the Almagest 6.7 (ed. Toomer, pp. 295-96).

130 Based on the fact, stated above, that a solar eclipse can only happen at conjunction (at
the time of the new moon) and a lunar eclipse only at full moon (the 15* day of the moon). The
phenomenon invoked by Bede - namely a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse occurring within two
weeks of one another (the solar eclipse at the new moon, the lunar eclipse 14 days earlier or
later at the full moon), and visible from the same location - is possible, though quite rare. Pliny
records such an event in the reign of Vespasian in AD 71 {NH 2.10.57). Another noteworthy
example is the solar eclipse of 4 October 590 (recorded in Gregory of Tours) and the partial
lunar eclipse of 18 October 590 (recorded in Fredegar) both of which were visible in Francia:
see Schove, Chronology of Eclipses and Comets AD 1-1000, pp. 103-5.

131 Pliny, NH 2.10.57. A lunar eclipse occurring precisely at moonrise and sunset, if viewed
from an elevated position with flat horizons, might leave the viewer with the mistaken impres¬
sion that both sun and moon were momentarily visible at the same time.

132 Cf. Pliny, V//2.7.48.

133 Pliny, V//2.72.180.

134 I.e., at a given latitude, the length of any particular day or night will be the same
anywhere in the world.

135 Pliny, V//2.73.181.

136 Pliny says ‘at Arbela’, the town in Assyria where Alexander defeated Darius.

137 C. Vipstanus Apronianus and C. Fonteius Capito, AD 59.

138 Pliny V//2.72.180.

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24. Comets

Comets are stars with flames like hair. They are born suddenly, portending
a change of royal power or plague or wars or winds or heat.^‘*° Some of these
move in the manner of the planets, others remain immobile. Almost all are
found towards the North, not in any particular part of it, but chiefly in the
radiant part which takes the name of the Milky ITay.'**' The briefest period
of time that they have been observed is seven days, the longest is eighty.
Hairy tails are sometimes found scattered upon the planets and the other
stars. But a comet is neve found in the western part of the

25. The Air

Air is everything resembling empty space that pours forth the breath of
life beneath the rnoon.^'^^ It is capable of sustaining the flight of birds, and
clouds and tempests.'"^® It is also where the aerial powers, which have been
hurled down in torment from their celestial seat, await the Day of ludge-
ment in order that they may be condemned more harshly.^'*'' From it, when
they appear to men, they take for themselves aerial bodies which resemble
their just deserts. For above the moon, which advances along the boundary
12111 between the air and the ether, the vicinity of which Mount Olympus
is said to reach up and touch, all things are pure and filled with the light
of day. However, the stars are seen by us at night like other lights shining
out of the darkness.But the clear upper air is assigned to heaven, while
the lower air, which assumes bodily shape with moist vapours, is assigned
to the earth, where there are fire, hail, snow, ice, and stormy winds, which
are ordered to praise the Lord from the earth. But sometimes this lower

139 Pliny, NH 2.22.89; Isidore, Etym. 3.71.17.

140 Isidore, DNR 26.13 (Fontaine, Trahe, p. 273); Pliny, NH 1.23.91.

141 Pliny, W/7 2.23.91.

142 Pliny, W//2.22.90.

143 Rackham, the Loeb editor of Pliny (LCL 330, 234 note c), emends Pliny’s numquam,
‘never’, to nonnumquam, ‘sometimes’, which may well be what Pliny wrote. But Bede’s
manuscript of Pliny cleai'ly read numquam in agreement with the manuscripts that survive.

144 Pliny, 2.23.92.

145 Pliny, 2.38.102.

146 Augustine, DGAL 3.2 (CSEL 28.1, 64.16); De Genesi contra Manichaeos 1.15.24
(CSEL91,90).

147 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 6.7 (Di'az y Diaz, p. 124; PL 83, 927).

148 Pliny, NH 2.7.48. Isidore, Etym. 14.4.13, observes that Mount Olympus ‘rises up to
such heights that neither clouds nor wind are perceived on its peak’ (trans. Barney et al.. The
Etymologies, p. 290). This may be the source of Bede’s remark.

149 Augustine, DGAL 3.10 (CSEL 28.1, 73.12-74.2); Ps. 148:7-8.

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air is also called heaven: hence Peter says that the heavens perished in the
Elood, when the tempestuous air was converted into waves.And the starry
heavens of these aerial regions are called the heavens of heavens as if
being the superior of the inferior.

26. The Winds

Wind is air moved and agitated, as can be proved with a small fan}^^ And it
is understood as being nothing else than a flow of air, which, as Clement
says, after being as it were compressed and channelled, is forced by the
ordinance of God from certain high mountains and squeezed out into winds
7218/ to quicken crops and temper the heatl^"* And they receive their various
names from the various parts of the sky}^^

27. The Order of the Winds

Four of the winds are the cardinals. The first of these, Septentrio [N],
which is also called Aparctias, blows straight from the Pole, generating
cold and clouds. On its right side^^^ is Circius [NNW], which is also called
Thrascias,^^^ generating snow and hail. On its left is Aquilo [NNE], also
called Boreas, which condenses the clouds.

The second cardinal wind is Subsolanus [E], also called Apeliotes,
which brings thunder in the East. It is a temperate wind. On its right is
Vultumus [ENE], also called Caecias,'^^ which dries everything up', on its
left is Eurus [ESE],'^^ which generates clouds.

The third cardinal wind is Auster [S], which is also called Notus. It is
moist, hot, and full of lightning. On its right is Euroauster [SSE],'“ a hot
wind. On its left is Emonotus [SSW], which is temperately warm. Because
the southern winds blow from the nether regions,^^^ they generate greater

150 Cf. 2 Peter 3:6.

151 Ps. 148:4.

152 Isidore, DNR 36.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 293).

153 Pliny, 2.44.114.

154 Isidore, DNR 36.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 293). The ‘Clement’ quoted by Isidore is
pseudo-Clement of Alexandria, Recognitions 8.23.

155 Isidore, 13.11.1.

156 These directions are given from the viewpoint of the winds thought of as facing us.

157 In Pliny, NH 2.46, Thrascias is the NNW wind and Circius is a WNW wind peculiar
to the province of Narbonne.

158 In Pliny, Vulturnus is SE, but Caecius is, as Bede has it, ENE.

159 In Pliny, Eurus is the Greek name for Vultumus [SE].

160 This wind is unknown to Pliny.

161 Isidore, DNR 37.1-3 (Fontaine, Traite, pp. 295-97); cf. Pliny, V//2.46.119-120.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

storms at sea than northern winds. And therefore especially destructive
earthquakes happen after south winds

The fourth cardinal wind is Zephyrus [W], also called Favonius, which
dispels winter and produces flowers. On its right is Africus [WSW], which
is also called Libs. It is a stormy wind, generating thunder and lightning; on
its left is Corus [WNW], also called Argestes, which generates rain clouds
in the East, 12191 fair weather in India.^^^

Moreover, there are certain winds that are peculiar to separate nations
and do not advance beyond a definite limit, like Sciron among the Athenians,
which deviates slightly from Argestes, or Circius among the Narbonnese,
which does not reach even to the city of Vienne in the same province.
And in addition to these there are two which no matter in what location
are breezes rather than winds — ‘aura’and ‘altanus’; for ‘aura’ is a gentle
motion of the air on land, and ‘altanus’ at sea.^^^

28. Thunder

They say that thunder is produced by the crash of clouds, when gusts of
winds conceived in their interior, stirring restlessly about in the same place
and violently bursting out somewhere by the innate power of their mobility,
resound with a great roar like four-horse teams bursting out from their
stalls, or like a bladder which although small nevertheless emits a great
noise when it bursts.

29. Lightning

Lightning is born from the rubbing together of clouds like clashing It

occurs simultaneously with thunder, but the sound penetrates the ears more
slowly than 7220/ the flash penetrates the eyes.^^^ For certainly the striking
together of all things creates fire. Some say that when air absorbs water
into itself from the depths as vapour and fire from the upper regions as heat
the horrid-sounding clashes of thunder are born from their collisions; and
they say that if fire wins out it is injurious to crops, but if water, that it is

162 Pliny, NH 2.48.128. Pliny imagines the south wind as being subterranean and therefore
especially destmctive.

163 Isidore, DNR 37.4 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 297).

164 Pliny, 2.46.120-21.

165 Isidore, 13.11.16-18.

166 Isidore, DNR 29.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 279).

167 Isidore, Etym. 13.8.2.

168 Isidore, DNR 30.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 281).

169 Isidore, E/yrn. 13.9.1.

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beneficial.'™ And therefore the power of lightning’s fire to penetrate is the
greater, because it is made of finer elements than the fire that we are accus¬
tomed to useN^

30. Where Lightning Is Not and Why

Lightning is rare in winter and in summer, because in winter the frigid air
extinguishes whatever fiery vapour it receives, while in summer the hot and
rarefied vapours are seldom condensed into clouds, wifhout which lightning
does not occur. This principle protects Scythia and Egypt from lightning.
Italy is subject to this principle,"'^ where on account of the milder winter and
rainy summer it is always in some measure spring or autumn.^’’^

31. The Rainbow

The rainbow with its four colours is formed in the air from the directly
opposed sun and the clouds. 7221/ This happens when the tip of a ray
of the sun that was beamed into a hollow cloud is repulsed and the ray is
reflected back toward the sun,'^^ like wax giving back the image of a ring. The
rainbow takes its fiery colour from the sky, its purple colour from the waters,
its blue colour/rom the air, and its colour green as grass from the earth.^'"^
Moreover, it is rarer in summer than in winter; and it is rarely seen at night,
except at the full moon, when of course it is reflecting the moon’s light.'’’

32. Clouds

Clouds are massed together into a ball drop by drop out of condensed air,
which, lifting the vapours of the waters of the land and the sea with the levity
of smoke,supports itself aloft by its own power as long as the vapours

170 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 7.9-10 (Di'az y Di'az, p. 132; PL 83, 930).

171 Isidore, Etym. 13.9.2.

172 Pliny states explicitly, what Bede implies, that the principle makes thunderstorms more
frequent in Italy.

173 Pliny, 2.51.135-36.

174 Isidore, DNR 31.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 285).

175 Pliny, 2.60.150.

176 Isidore, DNR 31.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 285). Bede compresses Isidore’s simile of the
wax almost to the point of unintelligibility. The clouds, reflecting back the rays of the sun, take
on the sun’s round shape (the rainbow), the way wax takes the impress of a ring. See McCready,
‘Bede and the Isidorian Legacy’, pp. 43^4. Eckenrode, ‘Venerable Bede as a Scientist’, p.
497, notes that whereas Isidore sees only two colours plus black and white, Bede sees four.

177 Cf. Pliny, V//2.60.150-51.

178 For the adjective/wma/LS’, which Bede takes from Ps.-Isidore, and which is not recorded
in OLD, Blaise, Latham, Niermeyer, or Souter, see Harvey and Power, The Non-Classical
Lexicon ofLatinity I: Letters A-H.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

consist of very tiny drops In this way, either decocted by the fire of the sun
or altered hy the current of the air, the vapours become fresh, even as we, by
infusing sea water into the soil or fresh water into sea plants, are accustomed
to transform [fresh or salty] savour into its opposite.'*®

33. Rains

Rains are formed from the little drops of the clouds. As they coalesce into
bigger drops, no longer supported by the nature of air, sometimes driven by
the wind, 12221 sometimes dissolved by the sun, they fall down in the form
of rain to the earth But we call gentle and steady rains ‘showers’, and
sudden and violent ones ‘storms’

34. Hail

Hailstones are coagulated in the air from drops of rain, and frozen by the
harshness of cold and wind.'** But they are melted more quickly than snow,
and they fall more often during the day than at night

35. Snow

Snow is formed from the vapour of water that, being/orestalled by cold, is
not yet condensed into drops It is said not to fall on the high jeu.'*®

36. Signs of Storms or Fair Weather

The sun, spotted at sunrise, or hiding behind a cloud, forecasts a rainy day.'**
If it turns red, it forecasts a clear day, if it grows pale, stormy weather; if
it seems flattened, so that, shining in the middle, it emits rays to the south
and 1222)1 north, wet and windy weather, if it sets pale into black clouds, a
north wind. If the sky is red in the evening, it forecasts a. fair day; if in the
morning, it signihes stormy weather.'** Lightning in the north and thunder

179 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 7.5 (Di'az y Di'az p. 130; PL 83, 929).

180 Isidore, DNR 33.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 289).

181 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 7.5 (Di'az y Di'az, p. 130; PL 83, 929).

182 Isidore, £/ym. 13.10.3.

183 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 1.6 (Di'az y Di'az, p. 130; PL 83, 930).

184 Pliny, W//2.61.152.

185 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 1.6 (Di'az y Di'az, p. 130; PL 83, 930).

186 Pliny, W//2.106.234.

187 Isidore, Bede’s source (see n. 188 below), explicitly takes this observation from Vergil,
Georg. 1.441-43. Bede’s omission of this fact is therefore deliberate.

188 Isidore, DNR 38.4-5 (Fontaine, Traite, pp. 301-3). ‘Red in the morning, sailors take
warning; red at night, sailors delight’. Cf. Matt. 16:2-3.

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in the southeast portends a storm,and a breeze from the south, heatl^
If the moon when four days old^'^^ is red like gold, it forecasts winds. If it
grows dark with spots at the top of its crescent, it forecasts the beginning of
a month of rains; if the, full moon has spots in the middle, clear weather.
Likewise, when water on a nighttime voyage sparkles at the oars, there will
be a storm. And when dolphins leap very frequently from the waters, the
wind will rise from the direction in which they are carried, and the clouds,
having heen scattered from that place, will reveal the sky.'^^

37. Pestilence

Pestilence is bom from air that has been corrupted on account of the
deserts of men either by excessive drought or rains. When the air has heen
absorbed by breathing or eating, it engenders pestilence and death. Hence
we very often observe that the whole of the summer season is transformed
into tempests and wintry blasts. These are called ‘storms’ when they come
in their own season, but when they come at other times they are called
‘portents’ or ‘signs’.

38. On the Dual Nature of the Waters

All things that are seen on earth 7224/ are formed and reformed by the dual
nature of the waters. For salt water nourishes/oor7 in the sea for mortals on
land, and fresh water is more properly suited for nourishing food in the air'^^
and for slaking thirst. But the question is, which of these is naturall Each is
understood to be natural as long as they are both able to be turned back into
one another - fresh water when it is diffused through the ashes of marine
plants, salt water when it is diffused through soil.^^^

It is a fact that the land masses are divided by numerous sea straits,
which not only demarcate the boundaries of nations but also enrich all
provinces with reciprocal wealth through trade.

189 Isidore, DNR 38.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 301).

190 Isidore, DNR 38.5 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 303).

191 Isidore, DNR 38.3 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 301).

192 Isidore, DNR 38.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 301).

193 Isidore, DNR 38.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 299).

194 Isidore, DNR 39.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 303); Etym. 4.6.17.

195 in aere, G^Sg; aere, Giles, Migne, Jones.

196 See ch. 32 above.

197 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 9.1-4 (Diaz y Di'az, pp. 146^8; PL 83, 935-36).

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

39. The Ocean’s Tide

The ocean’s tide follows the moon, as if it is forced out by its exhalation
and flows back when its impulse is withdrawn}'^^ It is seen to flow and ebb
twice daily, always with a delay of 3/4 plus 1/24 of one hour,'^^ and its
whole course is divided into ‘ledones’ and ‘malinae’, that is, into lesser
tides and greater tides.™ The lesser tide, beginning from the fifth and from
the twentieth day of the moon, flows in 12251 as many hours as it flows out.
But the greater tide, beginning from the thirteenth and from the twenty-
eighth day of the moon, which is swifter in flood and slower in ebb, goes
on for seven days and twelve hours. It always exhibits the first and the
fifteenth day of the moon in its middle,^°^ and it surges up more strongly than
usual at the equinoxes and the solstices.^®^ And every eight years at a very
precise™ revolution of the moon the tides are brought back to the begin¬
nings of their motion and to the same increases. When the moon holds a
northerly course, the tides are always gentler than when, having deviated to
the south, it exerts its power by a nearer course.^°^

40. Why the Sea Does Not Grow in Size

Because the sea is not increased by the inflow of rivers, they say that the
fresh fiow^°^ is naturally consumed by the salt waters, or that it is carried off
/226/ by the winds or by the heat of the sun, as we prove in lakes and ponds
that are dried up in a brief period of time, or even that it reflows by a hidden
passage into their own springs and runs back by the usual way through
their own streams.Hut fresh waters flow above sea waters, because they
are lighter, the latter certainly, being of a heavier nature, better sustain the
waters poured over them.^”*

198 Isidore, DNR 40.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 307).

199 I.e., the tide is retarded 19/24 of an hour or 47V2 minutes per day. Bede takes this figure
from Pliny, NH 2.11.58 (see ch. 20, above), although Pliny does not apply it to the tides. In
DTR 29, Bede gives the figure of four puncti or 48 minutes.

200 The ledones and the malinae are the tides over a period of a week straddling the neap
tide and the spring tide, respectively. See Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 309.

201 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 9.4-5 (Diaz y Diaz, p. 148; PL 83, 936).

202 Ps.-Isidore, DOC 9.7 (Diaz y Diaz, p. 150; PL 83, 937); cf. Pliny, NH 2.99.215: but
Pliny asserts that the tides are weak {inanes) at the solstices, and in DTR 29 Bede follows Pliny.

203 certissimo, Giles, Migne, Jones; centesimo, Pliny {NH 2.99.215).

204 See Commentary.

205 Pliny, 2.99.215.

206 ftuentum, Isidore, Giles, Migne, GN\.Sg;,fluentem, Jones.

207 Isidore, DNR 41.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, pp. 309-11).

208 Pliny, 2.105.224.

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41. Why It Is Bitter

They say that the sea, which is watered by so many rivers and rains, remains
salty, because,after the fresh and clear water has been drawn out by the
sun, whose fiery power attracts it very easily, the whole sea is left denser
and more bitter, and therefore the surface water of the seas is fresher than
the depths}^°

But it is said that the nutriment of the moon is in fresh waters just as that of
the sun is in the seafi^

42 . The Red Sea

The Red Sea takes its name from the rosy colour, which nevertheless it does
not naturally have. But it is tinged by its neighboring shores, which are
ruddy, with the colour of blood. And therefore red lead and other pigments
used in paintings are gathered from there, and red gems. Moreover, the Red
Sea is divided into two gulfs. Of these the Persian trends to the north, while
the Arabian,^^^ which is 115 miles distant from the Egyptian Sea,™ trends
to the west. 7227/

43. The Nile

The Nile River, which arises between the East and the South, is utilized
in place of rains by Egypt, where heavy rains and rain clouds are repelled
by the heat of the sun. For in the month of May its mouths through which
it flows into the sea are blocked by the wind blowing from the West which
heaps up the sand and holds back the waters. At this time, gradually swellvag
and propelled backwards, the Nile irrigates the plains of Egypt. But when
the wind ceases and the accumulation of sand is burst through, the river is
restored to its channel.™

209 Isidore, DNR 42.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 311).

210 Pliny, W//2.103.222.

211 Pliny, Ai//2.104.223. ‘Nutriment’ (a/imenruni) refers to Pliny’s description of the sun’s
and the moon’s power to suck water in or out of the sea or land.

212 Isidore, Etym. 13.17.2-5. Isidore earlier identifies the Arabian Gulf with the Red Sea
(13.17.1). He seems to confuse the two gulfs at the head of the Red Sea (modern: ‘Gulf of
Suez’ and ‘Gulf of Aqaba’) with the Red Sea thought of as a gulf and the Persian Gulf. Bede’s
Arabian Gulf is certainly the Gulf of Suez, which is roughly 100 miles from the Mediterra¬
nean. His Persian Gulf would logically have to be the Gulf of Aqaba, although he may have
been as confused as Isidore about the difference between the Gulf of Aqaba and the (modern)
Persian Gulf.

213 Pliny, AH 2.68.173.

214 Isidore, DNR 43.1-2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 313); cf. Lucretius, DRN 6.712-28 (Lucretius

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

44. That the Earth Is Bound hy Waters

The Creator encircled the globe around the middle with water, which
inclined toward the centre of the earth/ram every direction and labouring
toward the interior could not fall off. In consequence, since the parched
and thirsty earth was unable to cohere on its own and without moisture,
and the waters in turn were unable to remain without the sustaining earth,
they were joined in a mutual embrace, with the one opening her bosom and
the other permeating the whole, within, without, above, below, by means of
veins running throughout like bonds, and even bursting out in the highest
mountain ranges.^^^

45. The Position of the Earth

The earth is fixed on its own foundation. The deep like a 7228/ garment is
its clothing. For just as the abode offices is only in fire, of waters only in
water, of air only in car, so the place of the earth is only in itself, with every¬
thing else enclosing it. Nature contains it and denies it any place to fall.™
Situated in the centre or pivot of the world, the earth, being heaviest,^'® holds
the lowest and central place in creation, since water, air, and fire as it were
by the levity of their nature and likewise by their situation rank above it.

46. That the Earth Is Like a Glohe

We say ‘the sphere ’ of the earth, not because it has the shape of a perfect
sphere, in view of so great a disparity of mountains and plains, but because,
if all of its perpendicular lines™ were enclosed within a circumference, it
would make the figure of a perfect sphere.™ And therefore it happens that
the stars of the northern region always appear to us, but never those of the
southern region; and in turn these northern stars are not seen by those
people, because they are blocked by the globe of the earth. The country of
the Troglodytes™ and neighbouring Egypt do not see the Great and Little

was unknown to Bede [see Appendix 4], but this is a paiticularly interesting place to trace the
flow of information from antiquity to the early Middle Ages).

215 Pliny, A//2.65.165-66.166.

216 Ps. 103:5-6 (104:5-6).

217 Pliny, A//2.65.162.

218 graiiissima, GMSg, Migne; gratissima, Giles, Jones.

219 ‘I.e. imaginary radii drawn from the centre to the topmost point of each protuberance
on the earth’s surface’. H. Rackham, ed., Pliny, NH, LCL, vol. 1, p. 294 (note).

220 Pliny, AA 2.64.160.

221 I.e., Ethiopia.

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Bear, nor does Italy see Canopus [ ... ,] although a part of this same
sphere greater by nearly a half from east to /229/ west than from south to
north is inhabited, since heat prevents access southward and cold north¬
ward.

47. The Circles of the Earth

The earth is divided by eight circles^^"^ in accordance with the variation in the
length of the days. The first circle stretches from the southern part of India
through the neighbouring peoples of the Red Sea and the maritime shores
of Africa to the Pillars of Hercules. At this latitude at noon on the day of the
equinox a gnomon of seven feet casts a shadow four feet long, whereas the
longest day has 14 equinoctial hours.^^^

The second goes from the west of India through the Medes^^® and the
Persians, Arabia, Syria, Cyprus, Crete, Lilybaeum}^'’ It also borders on the
northern parts of Africa. A gnomon of 35 feet at the equinox makes a shadow
23 feef^^ long, whereas the longest day has 14 and 2/5 hours.

The third arises from the part of India nearest to the Imaus.^^° It extends
through the Caspian Gates,^^^ the Taurus,^^^ Pamphylia, Rhodes, the
Cyclades, Syracuse, Catania,^^^ and Cadiz^^', [a gnomon of a 100 inches^^^

111 Pliny, W//2.71.177-78.

223 The apparent lack of concord between this and the preceding clause suggests the possi¬
bility of scribal omission, although no manuscript evidence for this has been discovered to date.

224 I.e., parallels of latitude.

225 Pliny, NH 6.39.212. The figures in the last sentence correspond roughly to 30°N (a
gnomon/shadow ratio of 7:4 = 29°45’N [for more on the gnomon/shadow ratio, see below, p.
101, n. 266]; Maximum Daylight [MDL] of 14 hours occurs at 30°49’N). However, the Strait
of Gibraltar (Pillars of Hercules) is approximately 36° N. The Mediterranean coast of Africa
varies from about 30° to 36° N. Most of modem India and all of the Red Sea are south of 30°
N. An equinoctial hour is 1/24 of the day.

226 Where Bede has per Medos, Pliny reads per medios Parthos.

221 A town and promontory on the western coast of Sicily (modern Marsala) at 37°48’N.

228 xxiii, Bede; xxiiii, Pliny.

229 Pliny, NH 6.39.213. A gnomon/shadow ratio of 35:23 (Bede) = 33°19’N; a gnomon/
shadow ratio of 35:24 (Pliny) = 34°27’N; MDL of 14 hours, 24 minutes occurs at 35°28’N.

230 A western range of the Himalayas between the Caspian Sea and the Ganges.

231 A pass on the west coast of the Caspian Sea at 42° N.

232 A high mountain range in southern Turkey.

233 Both Syracuse and Catania are on the east coast of Sicily - Syracuse at 37°04’N and
Catania at 37°3rN.

234 At36°32’N.

235 c unciae, Pliny; cunctae, Bede.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

7230/ casts a shadow of 77 inches, while the longest day has 14 and 1/2
hours, plus 1/30 of an hourP’’

The fourth extends/rom the other slope of the Imaus through Ephesus,
the sea of the Cyclades,the northern parts of Sicily, the eastern parts of
Narbonese Gaul, and the maritime parts of Africa^'^“ to the west, a gnomon
of 21 feet has corresponding shadows of 16 feet, while the longest day has
14 and 2/3 hoursP'

In the fifth circle/rom the entrance of the Caspian Sea^'^^ are contained
the Bactrians,^*^ Armenia, Macedonia, Taranto,^'^* the Etrurian Sea, the
Baleares, and the middle ofSpain/'*^ A gnomon of seven feet corresponds to
shadows of six. The longest day has 15 hours.^^^

The sixth circle includes the Caspian peoples, the Caucasus, Samothrace,
the Illyrians, Campania, Etruria, Marseille,^'^^ the middle of the province
of Tarragona in Spain; and from there it extends through Portugal.^*^ A
gnomon of nine feet makes a shadow of eight. The longest day has 15 and
1/9 hours.

236 Ixxuii, Pliny; xxxuiii, Bede. Our translation of the bracketed clause follows Pliny.
The readings cunctae and xxxuiii in the received text of Bede make no apparent sense. The
misreading cunctae for c unciae suggests that it is a copyist’s error at an early stage of transmis¬
sion. Roman numerals are notoriously unstable. We note that the St-Gall MSS G and Sg both
read uiii for xxxuiii, with signs of erasure before the first numeral.

237 Pliny, NH 6.39.214. A gnomon/shadow ratio of 100:77 = 37°36’N; MDL of 14 hours,
32 minutes occurs at 36°53’N.

238 At37°55’N.

239 Where Bede has mare Cicladum, Pliny reads Icarium mare, Cycladum.

240 Where Bede has Africae maritima ...ad occasum, Pliny reads Hispaniae maritima a
Carthagine Nona et inde ad occasum. It seems unlikely that Bede could have been responsible
for substituting Africa for Spain at this point after stating above that the second parallel ‘borders
on the northern parts of Africa’.

241 Pliny, NH 6.39.215. A gnomon/shadow ratio of 21:16 = 37°19’N; MDL of 14 hours,
40 minutes occurs at 38°15’N.

242 This is very vague. Possibly Pliny refers to the westernmost extension of the Caspian
sea at roughly 44°30’N.

243 Bactri, EMSg; Bactrii, Jones; Bactria, Pliny. Bactria was a region in what is now
northern Afghanistan.

244 At40°28’N.

245 Reading Hispania media with Pliny; Jones (following Giles and Migne) prints Hispania
Media.

246 Pliny, NH 6.39.216. A gnomon/shadow ratio of 7:6 = 40°36’N; MDL of 15 hours
occurs at 41°25’N.

247 At43°18’N.

248 Lusitaniam, AGNSg, Giles, Migne, Pliny; Lusianam, Jones.

249 Pliny, NH 6.39.217. A gnomon/shadow ratio of 9:8 = 41°38’N (this, as Bede tells us

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100 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

The seventh circle begins from the other shore of the Caspian Sea,^^°
and goes through the remoter parts of Thrace, Venice, Cremona, Ravenna,
Transalpine Gaul, the Pyrenees, and Celtiberiafr^ A gnomon of 35 feet
makes 36 feet of shadow, while the longest day has 75 and 3/5 hours

The eighth extends from the river Don through Lake Maeotis^^* and
the country of the Sarmatae, the Dacians and part of Germany, and the
provinces of Gaul. The longest day has 16 hours.^^^

The ancients put two circles before these: one extends through the Isle
of Meroe^^^ and the city Ptolemaida on the Red Sea,^^^ where the longest
day has llVi hours^^^', 1231/ the other extends through Syene^^^ in Egypt,
where the day has 13 hours. And they put two circles after: the first
through the Hyperboreans^^^ and Britain with a longest day of 17 hours^^f
the other the Scythian circle, from the Rhiphaean mountain ranges^^^ to
Thule, in which the days are continued without interruption and alternately
the nights.^^

in the next chapter, is the gnomon/shadow ratio of Rome); MDL of 15 hours, 6 2/3 minutes
occurs at 42°24’N.

250 The northern shore of the Caspian Sea, if this is what is meant, reaches 47° N.

251 Venice, Cremona, and Ravenna are at 45°26’N, 45°08’N, and 44°25’N, respectively.

252 A region in Spain between the Tagus and the Ebro rivers.

253 Pliny, V//6.39.218-19. A gnomon/shadow ratio of 35:36 = 45°49’N; MDL of 15 hours,
36 minutes occurs at 46°18’N.

254 The Sea of Azov.

255 MDL of 16 hours occurs at 49°03’N.

256 The Isle of Meroe (insula Meroe) was a region of the ancient kingdom of Meroe
(northern Sudan). The region was south of the city of Meroe, which was at 16°54’N. However,
both Pliny and Bede understand this to be an island in the Nile (see On Times 48: below, p.
101). Bede gives the MDL of the city of Meroe as 12 hours, 53 minutes (see On Times 7:
below, pp. 110-11).

257 Pliny states that Ptolemaida was built for the purpose of hunting elephants; Bede makes
it a city.

258 MDL of I 2 V 2 hours occurs at 8°34’N.

259 The modern city of Aswan at 24°05’N.

260 MDL of 13 hours occurs at 16°44’N.

261 A mythical northern people; Isidore, Etym. 14.8.7, speaks of the Hyperborean
mountains of Scythia.

262 MDL of 17 hours occurs at 54°31’N. As it happens, Bede’s monastery of Jarrow was
located at 54°59’N, where the MDL is 17 hours, six minutes. See On Times 1 (below, p. Ill
and n. 30).

263 Imaginary mountains of northern Scythia.

264 Pliny, NH 6.39.219-20. For Thule, see On Times 1 (below, p. Ill) and Commentary on
On Times 1 (below, pp. 170-71).

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

101

48. More on the Same Subject: the Art of Using Sundials

At midday in Egypt on the day of the equinox, the pin of a sundial, which
is called a gnomon,^^^ casts a shadow a little more than half the length of
the gnomon. In the city of Rome the shadow is shorter than the gnomon by
one-ninth. In the town of Ancona the 35* part of the gnomon remains [when
compared with its shadow]. In the part of Italy which is called the Veneto
the shadow is equal to the gnomon at these same hours.^^

Likewise it is said that at Syene five thousand stades beyond Alexan¬
dria^^'' 7232/ no shadow is cast at noon on the day of the summer solstice.
The same is also true in India beyond the river Hyphasisf^^ And they say
that among the Troglodytes^^^ this happens on the 45* day before and after
the solstice with shadows being cast to the south during the 90 days in the
middle. But also [they say that] in Me roe, an island of the Nile, five thousand
stades from Syene, shadows vanish twice in the year, when the sun occupies
the 18* degree of Taurus and the 14* ofLeo.^^°

49. Earthquake

They say that an earthquake is caused by the wind, which, having been shut
up in the earth’s cavernous sponge-liks innards, rushes through them with
a terrifying roar, and labouring to escape, shudders violently with varied
rumblings, and endeavours to discharge itself by shaking open a gap.^^'
Hence hollows in the earth are associated with these quakes, seeing that
they have the capacity for wind, but sandy and solid places lack it.^^^ For

265 gnomonem, Giles, Migne; gnomon, AN; gnomen, Jones.

266 Pliny, NH 2.74.182. I.e., the gnomon/shadow ratio in Egypt is 2:1; in Rome, 9:8; in
Ancona, 35:34; in the Veneto, 1:1. That is, according to these figures (tangents of 2/1, 9/8,
35/34), the sun’s height above the horizon at noon on the day of the equinox in Egypt would
be 63°26’; in Rome, 48°21’; in Ancona, 45°49’; in the Veneto, 45°. These heights coiTespond
to latitudes of 26°34’N for Egypt; 41°39’N for Rome (actual 41°53’N); 44°irN for Ancona
(actual 43°37’N); and 45° for the Veneto.

267 simili modo [tradunt in siene, added in second hand] quod est supra alexandriam, Sg,
Pliny; Sieni oppido quod est [altered from quidem] supra Alexandriam, G; Simili modo quod
est supra Alexandriam, Jones; Simili quidem modo est super Alexandriam, Giles, Migne. I.e.,
roughly 625 miles south of Alexandria. As noted above, Syene (Aswan) is at 24°05'N, just a
few miles north of the Tropic of Cancer at 23°27’N.

268 Modern Beas. In fact the Beas flows into the river Sutlej at roughly 29° N, considerably
north of the Tropic of Cancer.

269 A people of Ethiopia.

270 Pliny, NH 2.75.183-84. Bede would have understand the 18* degree of Taurus to be 4
May and the 14* of Leo to be 31 July (see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, Appendix 1).

271 Isidore, DAT? 46.1 (Fontaine, Trade, p. 319).

272 Isidore, DNR 46.3 (Fontaine, Trade, p. 321).

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102 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

earthquakes do not occur except when the sky and the sea are calm and the
wind is hidden in the veins of the earth; and what is thunder in a cloud is an
earthquake on earth, and what is a bolt of lightning in a cloud is a fissure
on earth. Earthquakes are also accompanied by inundations of the sea,
which is evidently infused with the same wind or drawn in by the depression
as the earth subsides ™ 7233/

50. The Fire of Mount Etna

The land of Sicily, which is full of hollow places and strewn with sulphur
and bitumen, lies almost wholly open to winds and fires. Ai' wind contends
with fire within, it often belches forth smoke or vapours or flames from many
places. And when the wind exerts greater pressure, it will even throw up a
mass of sands or stones.

This is why the very long lasting fire of Mount Etna endures like the fires
of hell. They say this fire is nourished by the waves of the Aeolian Islands,
as the tumult of waters taking the air down with itself into the deepest depths
gasps for a long time, until, having been dijfused through the veins of the
earth, it ignites the kindling materials of fire. Hence, when sailors in the
distance are terrified hy the low roaring of the waves, which the heaving of
the sea batters with a sucking whirlpool, the dogs of Scylla are fahled to
he barking.^^^

51. The Division of the Earth

The whole circle of lands, girded by the Ocean, is divided into three parts:
Europe, Asia, and Africa. It takes its starting-point from the West and the
Straits of Cadiz,™ where the Atlantic Ocean bursting in floods into the
interior seas. For one entering from this direction, Africa is on the right,
and Europe is 7234/ on the left. Asia is between them, and is comparable in

273 Pliny, W//2.81.192.

274 Pliny, NH 2.86.200. residentis, Bede; terrae sidentis, Pliny. Although Bede’s abbrevi¬
ated language can be understood, Pliny’s phrase makes the meaning transparent and clearly
underlies residentis (wherever the corruption occurred).

275 The Lipari Islands, off the north coast of Sicily.

276 Isidore, DNR 47.1-3 (Fontaine, Trade, p. 321-23).

277 The orbis terrarum, the ‘circle of lands’, is the classical term for the earth. Pliny
probably means nothing more by it than the world. Bede, however, must understand it more
literally as referring the three continents an'anged in the shape of a disc, because he is quite
clear that the earth is a sphere and because he adds the qualification that the circle of lands is
surrounded by the ocean.

278 The Straits of Gibraltar.

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ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

103

size to the other two taken together. Its boundaries are the rivers Don and
Nile. The Straits of the Ocean [i.e., of Gibraltar], which we have mentioned,
extend 15 miles in length, and five in width.™

Therefore Europe is spread out from the West to the North, and Asia
from the North through the East as far as the South, and from there Africa
is spread out from the South as far as the West™

HERE ENDS THE BOOK OF THE NATURE OF THINGS

279 Pliny, NH 3.1.3. The Straits are about eight miles wide at their narrowest point.

280 Isidore, DNR 48.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 325); Etym. 14.2.2; Augustine, DCD 16.17.
Augustine and Isidore, unlike Bede, give these directions in counter-clockwise order.

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BEDE
ON TIMES

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THE CHAPTERS OF ON TIMES'

1. Moments and Hours

2. The Day

3. The Night

4. The Week

5. The Month

6. The Months of the Romans

7. Solstice and Equinox

8. The Seasons

9. Years

10. The Leap-Year Day

11. The Nineteen-Year Cycle

12. The ‘Leap of the Moon’

13. The Contents of the Paschal Cycle

14. The Formulas for the Headings of the Paschal Table

15. The Sacrament of the Easter Season

16. The Ages of the World

17. The Sequence and Order of Times

18. The Second Age

19. The Third Age

20. The Fourth Age

21. The Fifth Age

22. The Sixth Age

1 This list of chapters does not appear in the MSS of DT consulted by Jones for his edition,
though it does appear in other MSS.

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THE BOOK ON TIMES

1. Moments and Hours

Time is divided into moments, hours, days, months, years, generations, and
ages. The moment [momentum], is the smallest and very shortest interval
of time, and takes its name from the motion [motu] of the stars, for it is the
outermost limit of an hour and exists in the brief intervals when one thing
stops and another succeeds it. The word ‘hora ’ is Greek, but it sounds the
same in Latin. An hour is a boundary of time, just as the shores [orae] are the
boundaries of the sea, or of rivers, or of garments.^ It contains four puncti,
ten minuta and 40 momenta.

And for the sake of avoiding error, one should take note that time¬
reckoning [computus]^ depends partly on nature, and partly on authority
or custom: on nature - for example that a common [lunar] year has twelve
lunar months; on custom - for example that months are computed at thirty
days; and on authority - for example that the week consists of seven days.

2. The Day

In common parlance, the day is the presence of the sun above the earthj^ and
properly speaking it comprises 24 hours. The Chaldeans and the Persians
reckon the day between two sunrises, the Egyptians between two sunsets,
the Romans from midnight to midnight, the Umbrians and Athenians from
noon to noon.^ Moses called the period from morning to morning a single
day; but the Lord rose from the dead on the evening of the Sabbath, as it
began to dawn on the first day^ of the week, so that mankind, which had

2 Isidore, Etym. 5.29.

3 Computus means generally ‘calculation’ or, as here, specifically the science of ‘time-
reckoning’. See Introduction, pp. 20-25, and Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 425-26. In
Bede’s day, the use of the term computus to denote a particular domain of learning or technical
knowledge had not yet taken hold; hence this translation prefers the more neutral term ‘time-
reckoning’.

4 Isidore, Etym. 5.30.1; DNR 1.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 173).

5 Isidore, DNR 1.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 173); Etym. 5.30.4; Pliny, NH 2.79.188.

6 Matt. 28:1.

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108 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

fallen from the light into darkness, could thenceforth return from darkness
into light. 7586/

3. The Night"

Night is the absence of the sun when it is concealed by the shadow of the
earth} It was created to give mortals repose lest humankind in its greed
should perish through prolonged exertion. [Where the night is colder, it is
also longer, so that work can be curtailed and limbs restored.*] Its parts are
seven: dusk [crepusculum], which is that uncertain light between light and
darkness, for we call what is uncertain "creper ’; eventide [uesperum], when
the star of that name [Vesper, i.e., Venus as evening star] appears; the silent
hours, when everything is hushed', the dead of night [intempestum], which
is the middle time [tempus] of night when no activity takes place; cockcrow
[gallicinium], when the rooster [gallus] lifts up its voice; early morning,
between the departure of the darkness of night and the arrival of the sunrise;
and daybreak [diluculum], as it were the first faint light of day [diei lux] -
this is also known as ‘dawn’, preceding the sunrise

4 . The Week '

The week comprises seven days; the eighth day is the same as the first
day, to which it returns and where the week always begins anewfi The
pagans named the days of the week after the planets, for they believed that
they received breath from the sun, a body from the moon, blood from Mars,
intelligence and speech from Mercury, moderation from Jupiter, pleasure
from Venus and sluggishness from Saturn}^ But St Sylvester 7587/ ordained
that the weekdays were to be called/enae, designating the first day [prima

I In The Reckoning of Time 6, Bede will greatly expand this material.

8 Isidore, DNR 2.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 181).

9 Bracketed phrase, KSSgZ only. Cf. The Reckoning of Time 7. This idea is expressed in
Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream ofScipio, a work which Bede apparently did not know
directly: see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 31, n. 60.

10 Isidore, DNR 2.2-3 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 181-83); Etym. 5.31.4-13. In Etym. Isidore puts
uesper first, followed by crepusculum', here and below Bede seems to have borrowed from both
of Isidore’s accounts.

II Absorbed and considerably expanded in The Reckoning of Time 8.

12 Isidore, 5.32.

13 Isidore, Etym. 5.30.8; cf. DNR 3.4 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 185). Notice that in On Times,
Mars furnishes blood, but in The Reckoning of Time, ardour or fervour. The latter reading is
also found in the Irish-inspired ninth-century Bobbio computus (Milan, Bibl. Ambrosiana H
150 Inf., transcribed in PL 129, 1300-1), though it is not clear in which direction the influence
flows.

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ON TIMES

109

feria\ as the Lord’s Day, in imitation of the Hebrews, who used the terms
‘first day of the Sabbath’, ‘second day of the Sabbath’ and so forth, in
numerical order.For the Hebrews a ‘week’ unfolds over that same number
of years,and they also had a ‘week of weeks’ for days as well as for years.
They call the fiftieth day Pentecost, and the fiftieth year the Jubilee, which
means ‘freedom’.'®

5. The Month

A lunar month consists of the waxing and waning of the moon,'’ as it
traverses the zodiac in a little more than 29Vi days; but for ease of calcula¬
tion, the months of the moon alternate between 30 and 29 days. A solar
month, however, is 22 hours longer. From these extra 22 hours are accumu¬
lated the 11 days of the epacts, by which the sun advances over the moon
each year. For 12 times 22 makes 264, and 11 times 24 comes to the same
total. The Hebrews begin the months with the new moon, and the Romans
on the kalends. The Egyptians, counting each of their months as 30 days,
reckon the year from the 4“’ kalends of September [29 August] to the 9"'
kalends of the same month [24 August]; they call the five days which are
left over ‘intercalary days’.'® They were the first people to begin to demar¬
cate the months according to the course of the sun, lest the swifter and less
reliable course of the moon disrupt their calculations.'^ 7589/

6. The Months of the Romans

The Romans, by order of Romulus, established a year often months, or 304
days. Romulus dedicated the first month to his father Mars', the second he
called April from the appearing of the crops. The third he consecrated to
Maia the mother of Mercury, and the fourth to Juno.^ Quintilis and Sextilis,

14 Bede’s information on Pope Sylvester I (314-335) comes from the section of the ‘Irish
computus of AD 658’ published as De divisionibus temporum 10 (PL 90, 658B); Jones prints
the relevant portions in BOT, pp. 394—95.

15 Cf. Isidore, DNR 3.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 183).

16 Cf. Isidore, DNR 6.4 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 195).

17 Isidore, DNR 1.1 (Fontaine, Trade, p. 205); cf. Etym. 5.33.1-2.

18 ‘The Hebrews begin ... intercalaiy days’: cf. Isidore, DNR 1.5; 4.6-7 (Fontaine, Trade,
pp. 179-81; 189-91).

19 Cf. Isidore, Etym. 5.33.2. As Jones observes, this is found in the Greek original of
Theophilus of Alexandria, Prologus TheophHi (ed. Krusch, 1, 222) but not in the Latin version.
Nonetheless, Isidore seems to be Bede’s immediate source.

20 Bede’s source is the version of the ‘Debate of Horus and Praetextatus' in Macrobius,
Saturnalia 1.12-15 (ed. Willis, pp. 53-73) found in an anonymous extract in Bede’s ‘Irish
computus', of which a copy is preserved in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 309, fols.

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which now are named for the hirth of Julius Caesar and the victory of
Augustus,^' and the months which follow, he designated hy their number.

He called the beginning of the month the ‘kalends’, because at that time,
the people were ‘called’— that is, summoned - to the Capitol by pronouncing
the word ‘calo that is, 7 summon ’, five or seven times, and thereby it was
also announced how many days remained until the nones. The ‘nones’ are
so called because on the ninth day before the ides the people Rocked to the
city in order to learn what should be done that month. Again, the ides is the
day which divides the month in half, for ‘iduare’ means ‘to divide’ in the
Etruscan language.^^

Numa added two months to these ten, naming January for Janus and
February for Februus, the god of purifications, and thus he aligned the year
with the course of the moon in 354 days.^^^ Julius Caesar instituted the year
which has been preserved until this day by adding eleven days. /590/

7. Solstice and Equinox

The solstices and equinoxes are each reckoned twice, on the 8“' kalends
of January [25 December] and July [24 June], and of April [25 March]
and October [24 September]^^ - that is, in the eighth degree of Capricorn,
Cancer, Aries, and Libra}^ What is more, the equinoctial day is of equal
length the whole world over.

Due to variation in the increment of daylight, the longest day in Meroe^^

101r-105v. Bede’s knowledge of Macrobius was apparently limited to this extract (see Jones,
BOT, pp. 107-8), but some Macrobian material may have reached him through other indirect
routes of transmission: see note 9 above. He provides even more extensive quotations from this
work in The Reckoning of Time 12. Cf. Isidore, DNR 4 (Fontaine, Traite, pp. 185-91).

21 Cf. Isidore, DNR 4.3 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 187). Julius Caesai* was said to have been born
on 12 July and Augustus Caesar defeated Anthony and Cleopatra on 1 August: cf. DTR 12,
trans. Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 47.

22 Cf. Isidore, DNR 4.4 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 187).

23 Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.15.10-12 (ed. Willis, p. 71).

24 Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.13.1-3 (ed. Willis, p. 61); cf. Isidore, Etym. 5.33.4.

25 Isidore, Etym. 5.34.2; cf. DNR 8.1 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 205). But see below, ch. 10, where
Bede adopts the ‘Egyptian’ date for the vernal equinox.

26 Pliny, A//2.17.81.

27 In this sentence, Bede is quoting Pliny, and Pliny’s figures are gathered from earlier
sources. For readers who may be interested in gauging the accuracy of ancient observations, we
give modern estimates of latitude and maximum daylight hours. Meroe (see On the Nature of
Things 48, and n. 256, above p. 100) was an ancient city on the Nile (now Kabushiyah in Sudan)
at latitude 16°54’N. 12 8/9 hours = 12 hours and 53 minutes (Maximum Daylight [MDL] at
that latitude =13 hours, one minute).

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measures 12 equinoctial hours plus eight parts [i.e., 8/9] of one hour, but
in Alexandria 14 hours,in Italy 15,^^ and in Britain 17,^° where the bright
nights of summer confirm what reason compels us to believe — namely that
when the sun is climbing closer to the top of the world during the days of the
summer solstice, the lands which lie beneath, because of the narrow circuit
of the light, have continuous day for six months, and then continuous night
when the sun has withdrawn to the winter regions. Pytheas of Marseille^^
writes that this occurs on the island ofThule,^^ which is six days’ sail to the
north from Britain.^^ 7591/

8. The Seasons

Seasons [tempora] are successions of changes, by which the sun tempers
the cycle of the year with its approach or recession. For winter, where he
abides for a longer period of time, is cold and wet; spring when he returns
is wet and warm; summer when he blazes fiercely is warm and dry; autumn
when he retreats is dry and cold. The ancients used to begin the seasons on
the sixth day before the ides of February, May,^^ August, and November [8
February, 10 May, 8 August, and 8 November], so that the solstices and
equinoxes would be in the middle of the seasons.

Spring corresponds to the east [orient!], because then everything springs
out [oriuntur] of the ground; summer to the south, because its sector is more
scorching with heat, autumn to the west, because it brings grave illnesses
being on the border of heat and cold; and winter to the north because it
languishes in the cold.^^

28 At 31°13’N (MDL = 14 hours, two minutes).

29 The latitude of Rome is 41°53’N (MDL = 15 hours, three minutes).

30 Bede’s monastery of JaiTow is situated at 54°59’N. MDL at Jan'ow = 17 hours, six
minutes. It is possible, though evidence is lacking, that Bede could have verified Pliny’s figure
for Britain by direct observation. We would have been able to confirm this had he added a
gnomon/shadow ratio (see On the Nature of Things 47 and 48: above, pp. 98-101) for Britain
at the latitude of Jarrow, which Pliny does not give.

31 Greek navigator {fl. 310-306 BC), who circumnavigated Britain and described Thule.

32 Possibly Iceland or northern Norway.

33 Pliny, NH 2.77.186-87; there is a longer quotation from Pliny, including this passage, in
The Reckoning of Time 31 (and cf. ONT 47). See further discussion in Commentary.

34 Ambrose, Hex. 4.5.21 (CSEL 32.1, p. 127.20-21); Isidore, DNR 7.1 (Fontaine, Traite,
p. 199).

35 Pliny, NH 2.47.122-23. Pliny gives the autumnal equinox as the beginning of autumn
and 11 November as the beginning of winter {NH 2.47.124-25).

36 Isidore, Etym. 5.35.8.

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9. Years

A solar or civil year is when the sun traverses the zodiac in 56514 days?''
The Romans start the year on the winter solstice, the Hebrews /592/ at the
spring equinox, the Greeks at the summer solstice and the Egyptians in the
autumn?^

A common lunar year is completed in 72 lunations, that is, 354 days',
an embolismic year, in 13 lunar months, or 384 days?'' Both start with the
Paschal lunation.

A great year is when all the stars, when their precise courses have been
executed, return to their proper place?" Josephus says that it is completed
in six hundred solar years.

10. The Leap-Year Day

A leap-year day is put together by calculating quarter-days over a four-year
period, because the sun returns to the same sign from which it set out not
in 365 days, but with a fourth part of a day added. For example, if now the
sun enters the equinoctial part of the sky'^^ at dawn, it will return to that
point next year at noon, in the third year in the evening, in the fourth year
at midnight, and in the fifth year at dawn again. It is necessary to predict
in advance the day which will be added on, for if it is not added, the vernal
equinox would fall on the day of the winter solstice after 365 years. The
Egyptians inserted it at the end of their year, that is, on the 4* kalends of
September [29 August], and the Romans on the 6'*' kalends of March [24
February], from which it takes its name.'^^ 7593/

According to a more concise and commonplace explanation, the leap-
year day is generated by the lagging behind of the sun, which does not quite
return to the same line [on the sundial] in 365 days. For example, if you
carefully observe the sun rising at the mid-point of the east at the spring
equinox (which according to the Egyptians comes on the 12''' kalends of
April [21 March]),'*"' one year later, on the same day, you will find that it

37 Isidore, DNR 6.4 (Fontaine, Trahe, p. 195).

38 Isidore, DNR 6.2 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 193).

39 Isidore, DNR 6.4 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 195).

40 Isidore, DNR 6.3 (Fontaine, Traite, p. 195).

41 Cf. losephus, Afif. 1.3.9 (ed. Blatt, pp. 136.24—137.2).

42 l.e., crossing the celestial equator.

43 Bi(s)sextus, ‘the leap-year day’ means literally ‘the h* doubled'.

44 Bede, EH 5.21 (Colgrave and Mynors, p. 542); Dionysius Exiguus, Epistola ad Petro-
nium (ed. Krusch, 2, 65.20-22).

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rises a little lower down/® and in the third, fourth and fifth year this drop will
increase, so that unless you add on a day, the sun will arise at the mid-point
of the east to make the equinox on the 11"** kalends of April (22 March), as
well as maintaining the same retardation in its other risings.

11. The Nineteen-Year Cycle

The Council of Nicaea instituted the nineteen-year cycle for the sake of the
Paschal fourteenth moons,in such a way that each and every [phase of the]
moon will return on an unerring course to the same day of the solar year
in nineteen years, 7594/ when 235 lunations are completed.'*^ The cycle is
divided into the ‘ogdoad’ and the ‘hendecad’, that is, into a period of eight
years and one of eleven years. For eight lunar years surpass the same number
of solar years by only two days, one of which fills the gap in the hendecad,
and the other is absorbed by the calculation of the ‘leap of the moon’ - for
otherwise, the solar hendecad would surpass the lunar by one day.

Some people arbitrarily try to assemble these days out of the leap-year
days over eight years, even though the leap-year day, which is added in the
month of February to [the reckoning of both] the sun and the moon, would
not normally prejudice future time - and these people add no leap-year
day to the hendecad. If I may put it more plainly, the two days of the moon
which are in excess in the ogdoad complement the two which are wanting
in the hendecad. 7595/

12. The ‘Leap of the Moon’

The advancing place and time of the appearance of the new moon over 19
years produces the ‘leap of the moon’. For although some people, computing
each lunation as 29V2 days, alternate the first appearance of the new moon
between noon and midnight, they are, in so doing, looking more to ease of
calculation than to the facts of nature. For if you investigate nature, the moon
of the first month, which now shows its first light at noon, and of the second
month, which now does so at midnight, will in the year to come shine forth
one hour, lOVi momenta and one-nineteenth part of one-half of a momentum
before noon or midnight. Nonetheless, this numerical difference does not

45 I.e., a little to the south of due east, or the celestial equator.

46 That is, on account of the importance of finding the 14* day (= the full moon) of the
first lunai* month following the spring equinox. Medieval Christians believed that these were
the criteria for determining the fourteenth day of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan, which is
the beginning of Passover.

47 That is, 235 lunar months = 228 solar months or nineteen solar years.

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apply to the established term of the year, be it embolismic or common, but
is equally divided over nineteen 7596/ years. And thus over nineteen years,
the appearance of the [new] moon, by running ahead of itself, deprives the
final year of the nineteen-year cycle of one day, and causes it to be computed
at 383 days."^* If you neglect to do this, after 15 nineteen-year cycles the
fifteenth moon will happen where you think the first should be.

The leap of the moon removes one night, but adds to the age [of the
moon], which increases through the whole cycle. But in this leap the night
which is removed is one which is counted before the moon wanes completely.
In nature, of course, the night itself persists; this night marks the beginning
of the following year and the starting point of the new cycle. Eor this reason,
the final year retains an epact of 18, and it attaches 12, not 11 days to the
first year.''* And because the epacts come to an end in 30 days, no epact is
placed at the beginning of the cycle.

13. The Contents of the Paschal Cycle

This same Paschal cycle is assembled in eight columns.®' The first column
contains the years from the Incarnation of the Lord, increasing by one with
each passing year. The second contains the Roman indictions, which always
revolve in a cycle of fifteen years.®^ The third contains the eleven lunar
epacts which accrete in each solar year according to the course of the moon,
and which are always added [to the lunar regular®® for each month] in order
to find the age of the moon on the kalends of the month. They are positioned
in reference to the 11th kalends of April [22 March]. The fourth column
contains 7597/ the concurrent days of the week for the 9th kalends of April
[24 March]; because of the loss [occasioned by] the leap-year day, they are

48 Rather than 384 days, the ordinary period of an embolismic lunar year (the nineteenth
year of the cycle being embolismic).

49 On how the ‘leap of the moon’ affects the epacts in year one of the cycle, see Commentary.

50 This paragraph is printed at the end of On Times 13, by Giles, Migne, and Jones, which
is where it appears in many MSS. Jones, BOT, p. 301, unnumbered note, points out that only
three MSS ‘place this passage at the end of Ch. XII, where it belongs according to content’.
The three include K, and Sg should be added to these. Several MSS, including S, V, and Z,
omit it entirely. Jones suggests that it probably began as a gloss.

51 Bede is referring to the graphic presentation of the Paschal table of Dionysius Exiguus,
which organizes its data in eight columns. See the eight columns in the tables prepared by
Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, Appendix 2, and also the cycles printed in PL 90, 825-78.

52 Since a cycle of fifteen years will not repeat from the beginning in a period of five
hundred and thirty-two years, the indictions in Bede’s tables apply only to the years 532-1063.

53 For the ‘lunar regular' and how to derive it, see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 295-96.

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ON TIMES

115

of necessity completed in twenty-eight years. Their calculation means that
the 28 nineteen-year cycles have to be written out in such a way that each of
the concurrents begins a single cycle, and that the grand total of the Paschal
calculation is finished in five hundred thirty-two years. The fifth contains
the lunar cycle, which the nineteen-year cycle precedes by three years, and
which itself comprises nineteen years. The sixth contains the [dates of the]
14“'' days of the moon by which the men of old made the Pasch. These days
are variably distributed between the 12'*' kalends of April [21 March] and
the 14'*' kalends of May [18 April]; their new moons fall between the S'*"
ides of March [8 March] and the nones of April [5 April]. From the 14'*'
moon to the 14“’ moon of the following year, there are 354 days if the year
is common, and 384 if it is embolismic. In the seventh column are found
the days of Easter of our Lord, from the 11“’ kalends of April [22 March] up
to the 7“’ kalends of May [25 April] - the extreme prolongation being due
to the calculation of the embolism. In the last column is found the moon on
the feast of Easter, which varies between 15 and 21 because of [the position
of] Sunday [with respect to the date of the 14“’ moon].^’* /598/

14. The Formulas for the Headings of the Paschal Table

If you want to find out the number of years from the Incarnation of the Lord,
take cognizance of the number of indictional cycles - for example, by the
fifth year of the Emperor Tiberius there had been 46.®^ Multiply these by

15, and this makes 690. Always add twelve regulars, because according
to Dionysius 7599/ the Lord was born in the fourth indiction, and add the
indiction of the year you want, for example, in the present year, one; and this
makes 703. These are the years of the Lord’s Nativity.^®

If you want to know what the indiction is, take the years of the Lord and
add three: divide by 15, and what remains is the indiction of the present
year.^^

If you wish to know what the lunar epact is, divide the years of the Lord

54 See Commentary.

55 Tiberius III Apsimar, ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire (698-705); the hfth year of
Tiberius was AD 702. Forty-six indictional cycles of 15 years each total 690 years. Bede then
adds 12 to account for the years between the birth of Christ (in AD 1 = indiction 4) and the
beginning of the first post-incarnation indictional cycle in AD 13; this brings the total to 702.
The next year, AD 703, will therefore be the first of the indictional cycle.

56 Cf Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta de titulis paschalis, I (ed. Krusch, 2, 75). Bede must
have composed this chapter in 703. See n. 55 below.

57 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 2 (ed. Krusch, 2, 75). Left unstated is the observation
that if the remainder is 0, the indiction is 15.

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116 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

by 19 and multiply the remainder^* by II; then divide by 30, and what is left
over is the epact.^®

If you wish to know the concurrent days of the week, take the years of
the Lord and add one-fourth of them; then add four to these because in the
year of the birth of the Lord the concurrent was five; divide these by seven,
and what remains is the epact of the sunf°

If you want to know what year o/the nineteen-year cycle it is, take the
years of the Lord, and, adding one, because the Lord was born in the second
year of that cycle, divide by 19. The remainder is the year of the nineteen-
year cycle.'’'

If you wish to know the number of the year of the lunar cycle, take the
years of the Lord, subtract two, and divide by 19; what remains is the year
of the lunar cycle.

If you wish to know the leap year, divide the years of the Lord by four;
what remains will be the number of years since the leap year.® When these
are found, you can readily find the exact date of Easter and [the age of] its
moon. If you want to find the epacts and concurrent days of the sun for
any number of years from now - say, after one hundred Easters - it is only
necessary to divide 100 by 19 and the remainder is 5; know that the epact
one hundred years from now will be the same as it is five years from now.®
In the same way, by dividing 100 by 28, you will find the solar concurrent
one hundred years from now to be the same as the concurrent sixteen years
from now.

15. The Sacrament of the Easter Season

Therefore Easter does not return on the same day of the year like the season
of our Lord’s Nativity. In the latter case only the memory of his birth /600/

58 quod remanet, Sg, quod remanserit, BO, Giles, Migne; quod remanserint, Jones.

59 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 3 (ed. Krusch, 2, 75-76).

60 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 4 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76). The solar epact is another term
for the concurrent: see The Reckoning of Time 53. N.B., a remainder of 0 = a concurrent of 7.

61 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 5 (ed. BCrusch, 2, 76). This is the number of Dionysius’
and Bede’s nineteen-year cycle, not the lunai* cycle which appears in column 5 of Bede’s tables.
A remainder of 0 = year nineteen.

62 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 6 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76). Again, a remainder of 0 = year
nineteen.

63 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 8 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76-77).

64 That is, assuming you know the epacts for nineteen yeai's into the future, you can calcu¬
late the lunar epact for any year beyond that by dividing the years from the present by 19,
finding the remainder, and looking up the epact for the number of years into the future indicated
by the remainder.

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is held to be solemnized. But in the former case the mysteries of the life
to come should be celebrated and its gifts received, and that is why Easter
is called ‘Pasch’, which signifies the transition from death to life. Easter
likewise seeks a season which corresponds to these mysteries: first, so that,
with the equinox passed, the darkness of death may be conquered by the true
Light; then, so that the joys of the new life may be celebrated in the first
month of the year, which is called the month of the new [grain] third, so
that the Resurrection, which took place on the third day and was revealed
in the third era of the world - that is, under grace,^® since before the Law
and under the Law it lay concealed within a prophetic enigma - might be
celebrated in the third week of the moon,'’’ since this very shift of phases
of the moon at this time teaches the contemplative powers of the mind to
exchange earthly things for heavenly glory; and finally so that the Lord’s
day may be called to mind, a day made worthy of veneration through the
creation of glorious light and through the triumph of Christ, and also a day
which we should long for because of our own resurrection.

16. The Ages of the World®*

Time is distributed into the six ages of the world. The first age, from Adam
to Noah,^^ contains ten generations, and one thousand six hundred fifty-six
years. This age perished completely in the Flood, just as infancy is wont
to be submerged in oblivion The second age from Noah to Abrahami’^ is
likewise compounded of ten generations, but two hundred ninety-two years.
This Age is found with a language, that is, Hebrew, for humans begin to
know how to speak in childhood after infancy [infantia], which derives its

65 mensis nouorum: cf. Exod. 23:15 and 34:18. See Kendall, Bede: On Genesis, p. 197,
n. 307.

66 Refemng to the tripartite division of the world-age: before the Law (Creation to Moses),
under the Law (Moses to Christ), under grace (Christ to the present). See Wallis, The Reckoning
of Time, p. 152, n. 91.

67 That is, Easter Sunday must fall within the week following the 14* day of the moon (14
Nisan). Since 14 Nisan can fall on any weekday, but Easter must fall on a Sunday, this allows
for a range of seven days.

68 The major sources of this and the following chapters are Isidore’s 'Chronicon B’, that is,
his short chronicle in Etym. 5.38-39, and his Chronica maiora. Both are edited by Mommsen,
MGH: AA 11 {Chronica minora 2), 424—81 - the Chronica maiora at the top of the page,
and the Etymologiae chronicle at the foot. The Roman numerals indicate the paragraphs in
Mommsen’s edition.

69 Isidore, Chron. B 3.

70 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.75-76).

71 Isidore, Chron. B 3.

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name from the fact that it cannot ‘talk’ \fari], that is, speak7^ The third age
from Abraham to Davidf^ contains fourteen generations, and nine hundred
forty-two years; and because a human being can begin to generate from
adolescence, Matthew 7601/ begins the generations from Abraham, who was
also made the father of nations [gentium]?* The fourth age from David until
the transmigration into Babylon’® likewise extends for fourteen generations
according to Matthew, and four hundred seventy-three years. Then the time
of the kings began,’® for the dignity of a man in the prime of life is appro¬
priate for ruling. The fifth age, up to our Lord’s advent in the flesh f' extends
for fourteen generations, and hve hundred eighty-nine years, and in it the
Hebrew people, as if exhausted by the burden of old age, were battered by
ever-increasing evils. The sixth Age, which is unfolding now?^ has no fixed
sequence of generations or times, but, like extreme dotage itself, will end in
the death of the whole world-age.

17. The Sequence and Order of Times

So the first age^^ comprises one thousand six hundred and hfty-six years
according to the Hebrews, and according to the Seventy Translators, two
thousand two hundred forty-two years.When he was one hundred and
thirty years old, Adam begat Seth, who was born in place of AbelN When
he was one hundred and five, Seth begat Enosh, who began to call upon the
name of the LordP When he was ninety, Enosh begat Kenan, [whose name
means ‘the nature ofGod’]P When he was seventy, Kenan begat Mahalalel,
[which translated means ‘the plantation of the Lord’].*'* When he was

72 Augustine, BCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.72-75).

73 Isidore, Chron. B 3.

74 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.65-70). Cf. Matt. 1:1-17.

75 Isidore, Chron. B 3.

76 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.58).

77 Isidore, Chron. B 3.

78 Isidore, Chron. B 3.

79 Isidore, Chron. B 4; Chron. mai. 2a.

80 Isidore gives the ages of the patriarchs according to the Septuagint: see following notes.

81 Isidore, Chron. B 5; Chron. mai. 4 (Isidore gives Adam’s age as two hundred and thirty).
Cf. Gen. 5:3.

82 Isidore, Chron. B 6; Chron. mai. 5 (Isidore gives Seth’s age as two hundred and five).
Cf. Gen. 4:26; 5:6.

83 Isidore, Chron. B 7; Chron. mai. 6 (bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones; Isidore
gives Enosh’s age as one hundred and ninety).

84 Isidore, Chron. B 8; Chron. mai. 1 (bracketed phrase, FMPSg only, Giles, Migne,
Mommsen/Jones; Isidore gives Kenan’s age as one hundred and seventy). Cf. Gen. 5:12.

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sixty-five, Mahalalel begat Jared, [which translated means ‘descending’
or ‘carrying’].*^ When he was 7602/ one hundred sixty-two, Jared begat
Enoch, who was carried off by GodJ^ When he was sixty-five, Enoch begat
Methuselah,^^ [which translated means ‘dedication’]}^ [The sons of God
lusted after the daughters ofmenlf^ When he was one hundred and eighty-
seven, Methuselah begat Lamechff The Giants were born}^ When he was
one hundred and eighty-two, Lamech begat Noah, who built the arkff When
Noah was six hundred years old, the Elood arrived.^^

18. The Second Age

The second age'^'' comprises two hundred and ninety-two years according
to the Hebrews, and according to the Seventy Translators nine hundred and
forty-two, or if one adds in Kenan, one thousand and seventy-two years.®®
In the second year after the Elood, Shem, [when he was one hundred years
old], begat Arpachshad, from whom the Chaldeans are descended?^ When
he was thirty-hve, Arpachshad begat Shelah, from whom the Samaritans
and Indians are descended?^ When he was thirty, Shelah begat Heber, from
whom the Hebrews are descended}^ When he was thirty-four, Heber begat

85 Isidore, Chron. B 9; Chron. mai. 8 (bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones; Isidore
gives Mahalalel’s age as 165). Cf. Gen. 5:15.

86 Isidore, Chron. B 10; Chron. mai. 9. Cf. Gen. 5:18.

87 Isidore, Chron. B 11; Chron. mai. 10 (Isidore gives Enoch’s age as 165). Cf. Gen. 5:21.

88 Bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones; the phrase is awkwardly interpolated, it
refers not to Methuselah but to Enoch, cf. Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum
(CCSL 72, 65).

89 Bracketed phrase, FPSg only, Giles, Migne, Mommsen/Jones; Isidore, Chron. mai. 11.
Cf. Gen. 6:2.

90 Isidore, Chron. B 12; Chron. mai. 12 (Isidore gives Methuselah’s age as one hundred
and sixty-seven). Cf. Gen. 5:25.

91 Isidore, Chron. mai. 13. Cf. Gen. 6:4.

92 Isidore, Chron. B 13; Chron. mai. 15 (Isidore gives Lamech’s age as one hundred and
eighty-eight). Cf. Gen. 5:28-29; 6:14-22.

93 Isidore, Chron. B 14; Chron. mai. 17. Cf. Gen. 7:6.

94 Isidore, Chron. B 15; Chron. mai. 18a.

95 The Septuagint adds Kenan between Arpachshad and Shelah (cf. Augustine, DCD 16.10
[CCSL 48, 512]), as Bede notes in The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 1693. Isidore omits this
generation.

96 Isidore, Chron. B 16; Chron. mai. 19 (bracketed phrase, EH^ only, Mommsen/Jones, and
some MSS of Isidore). Cf. Gen. 11:10.

97 Isidore, Chron. B 17; Chron. mai. 20 (Isidore gives Arpachshad’s age as one hundred
and thirty-five). Cf. Gen. 11:12.

98 Isidore, Chron. B 18; Chron. mai. 21 (Isidore gives Shelah’s age as one hundred and
thirty). Cf. Gen. 11:14.

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Peleg. The Tower [of Babel] was built?'^ When he was thirty, Peleg begat
Reu. The gods were worshipped for the first time.^°° When he was thirty-two,
Reu begat Serug. The kingdom of the Scythians was inaugurated}^^ When
he was thirty, Serug begat Nahor. The kingdom of the Egyptians 7603/ came
into being}^^ When he was twenty-nine, Nahor begat Terah. The kingdom of
the Assyrians and the Sycinians began}°^ When he was seventy, Terah begat
Abraham}^ Semiramis built Babylon}°^

19. The Third Age

The third age'°^ comprises nine hundred and forty-two years. [When he
was seventy-five, Abraham came to Canaan.]'”^ When he was one hundred,
Abraham begat Isaac. But first he begat Ishmael, from whom the IshmaeT
ites are descended.^°^ When he was sixty, Isaac begat Jacob. The kingdom of
the Argives came into being.When he was ninety, Jacob begat Joseph.™
Memphis was founded in Egypt.™ Joseph lived for one hundred and ten
years. Under Argus, Greece began to cultivate fields.™ The servitude of the
Hebrews lasted one hundred and forty-seven Cecrops built Athens.™

99 Isidore, Chron. B 19; Chron. mat 22 (Isidore gives Eber’s age as one hundred and thirty-
four). Cf. Gen. 11:16; 11:1-9.

100 Isidore, Chron. B 20-21; Chron. mai. 23-24 (Isidore gives Peleg’s age as one hundred
and thirty). Cf. Gen. 11:18.

101 Isidore, Chron. B 22-23; Chron. mai. 25-26 (Isidore gives Reu’s age as one hundred
and thirty-two). Cf. Gen. 11:20.

102 Isidore, Chron. B 24-25; Chron. mai. 27-28 (Isidore gives Serug’s age as one hundred
and thirty). Cf. Gen. 11:22.

103 Isidore, Chron. B 26-27; Chron. mai. 29-30 (Isidore gives Nahor’s age as seventy-nine
[or seventy-eight in Chron. B 26]). Cf. Gen. 11:24.

104 Isidore, Chron. B 28; Chron. mai. 31. Cf. Gen. 11:26.

105 Jerome, Chron. (ed. Helm, p. 20b, 26); Orosius 2.2.1 (CSEL 5, 82.2-3; Isidore, Chron.
mai. 33.

106 Isidore, Chron. B 30; Chron. mai. 33a.

107 Bracketed sentence, FPSg only, Giles, Migne, Mommsen/Jones. Cf. Gen. 12:4-5.

108 Isidore, Chron. B 31; Chron. mai. 34. Cf. Gen. 16:15-16; 21:5.

109 Isidore, Chron. B 32-33; Chron. mai. 35-36. Cf. Gen. 25:25-26.

110 Isidore, Chron. 34; Chron. mai. 39. Cf. Gen. 30:23-24 (where Jacob’s age is not
mentioned).

111 Isidore, Chron. mai. 4\.

112 Isidore, Chron. B 36-37; Chron. mai. 42—43. Cf. Gen. 50:25.

113 Isidore, Chron. B 38; Chron. mai. 44 (according to Isidore, one hundred and forty-four
years).

114 Isidore, Chron. mai. 49.

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Moses ruled Israel/or/orZy yearsN^ Sparta was foundedN^ Joshua ruled
for twenty-six years The Judges held sway [for four hundred and five
years] from Moses to the time of Samuel."* Othniel ruled for forty years.
Cadmus, the king of Thebes, invented the Greek alphabet.™ Ehud ruled for
eighty years.™ The musician Amphion enjoyed renown.^^^ Deborah ruled
for forty years.™ Picus first reigned over the Latins."* Gideon ruled for
forty years.™ 7604/ The musicians Orpheus and Linus earned renown."*
Abimelech ruled for three years.™ This man killed his seventy brothers.™
Tola ruled for twenty-three years. Priam reigned over Troy. Jair ruled for
twenty-two years.™ Carmentis devised the Latin alphabet.™ Jephthath
ruled for six years. Hercules threw himself into the flames. Ibzan ruled
for seven years.™ The ten-year Trojan War broke out. Lion ruled for ten
years;™ he is not found in the Septuagint. Abdon ruled for eight years.™
Aeneas arrived in Italy.™ Samson ruled for twenty years. Ascanius founded
Alba.™ [The book of Judges designates the times up to this point.]"* Eli

115 Isidore, Chron. B 40; Chron. mai. 54.

116 Isidore, Chron. mai. 57.

117 Isidore, Chron. B 42; Chron. mai. 59 (according to Isidore, twenty-seven years; Bede
addresses the discrepancy in The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 2519). Cf. Josephus, Ant. 5.1.29
(ed. Blatt, p. 320.22).

118 Cf. Augustine, BCD 16.43 (CCSL 48,549.41-57) (bracketed phrase, Sg [‘395 or 405’],
Giles, Migne; ‘305’ FP only, Mommsen/Jones [Bede’s own figures add up to four hundred
and five]).

119 Isidore, Chron. B 44-45; Chron. mai. 61-62.

120 Isidore, Chron. B 46; Chron. mai. 65.

121 Isidore, Chron. mai. 63.

122 Isidore, Chron. B 48; Chron. mai. 73.

123 Isidore, Chron. mai. 76.

124 Isidore, Chron. B 50; Chron. mai. 11.

125 Isidore, Chron. mai. 79.

126 Isidore, Chron. B 52; Chron. mai. 81.

127 Isidore, Chron. mai. 82. Cf. Judges 9:5; 9:56.

128 Isidore, Chron. B 54-56; Chron. mai. 83-84; 86.

129 Isidore, Chron. B 57; Chron. mai. 97.

130 Isidore, Chron. B 58-60; Chron. mai. 89-90; 92.

131 Isidore, Chron. mai. 91; 93a. Cf. Judges 12:11.

132 Isidore, Chron. B 62; Chron. mai. 94. Cf. Judges 12:13-14.

133 Isidore, Chron. mai. 96.

134 Isidore, Chron. B 64—65; Chron. mai. 98-99. Cf. Judges 15:20; 16:31.

135 Bracketed sentence, M only, Mommsen/Jones. That is, the periods of rule of the 12
judges from Othniel to Samson. Othniel (forty), Ehud (eighty), Deborah (forty), Gideon (forty),
Abimelech (three). Tola (twenty-three), Jair (twenty-two), Jephthath (six), Ibzan (seven), Elon
(ten), Abdon (eight), Samson (twenty). Cf. The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 2818, where Bede

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ruled for forty years The kingdom of the Sycinians came to an end.™
Samuel and Saul ruled for thirty-two years.™ The kingdom of the Spartans

arose.

20. The Fourth Age

The fourth age^*° comprises four hundred and seventy-three years according
to the Hebrews; the Seventy Translators add on twelve. David ruled for forty
years. Carthage was founded by Dido. ™ Solomon reigned for forty years;™
he constructed the Temple™ in the four hundred and eightieth year after the
exodus from Egypt,and from this it is plain 7605/ that Samuel and Saul
held power for thirty-two years. Rehoboam reigned for seventeen years.™
The kingdom of Israel and Judah was divided.™ Abijah reigned for three
years.™ The priest Abimelech enjoyed fame.™ Asa reigned for forty-one
years.™ Jehu the prophet was killed by Asa [i.e., Baasha] king of Israel.'^'
Jehoshaphat reigned for twenty-five years. Elijah, Obadiah and Micah
prophesied. Jehoram reigned for eight years.™ Edom defected from the

specifies that the twelve judges governed for two hundred and ninety-nine years.

136 Isidore, Chron. B 66; Chron. mai. 101. Cf. 1 Kings/3 Kings 4:18.

137 Isidore, Chron. mai. 103.

138 Isidore, Chron. B 68; Chron. mai. 104 (Isidore says forty years). Cf. below n. 145, and
The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 2790, 2870 and 2890.

139 Isidore, Chron. mai. 105.

140 Isidore, Chron. B 70; Chron. mai. 106a.

141 Isidore, Chron. B 71—72; Chron. mai. 107, 109.

142 Isidore, Chron. B 73; Chron. mai. 111.

143 Isidore, Chron. B 74; Chron. mai. 112.

144 Cf. 1 Kings/3 Kings 6:1; Bede, De Templo 1.393-451 (CCSL 119A, 157-58).

145 xxxii annis, PSg [annis, om. Sg]; xxxii onnis non xl, Giles, Migne; xl annis, FHM,
Mommsen/Jones. Bede can hardly have contradicted at this point his own statement at the end
of the third age that Samuel and Saul ruled for thirty-two years. His figures confirm this: Moses,
after the exodus, forty; Joshua twenty-six; the twelve Judges two hundred and ninety-nine (see
above, n. 135); Eli forty; Samuel and Saul thirty-two; David forty; Solomon four. These total
four hundred and eighty-one. See above, n. 138.

146 Isidore, Chron. B 75; Chron. mai. 113.

147 Isidore, Chron. B 76.

148 Isidore, Chron. B 77; Chron. mai. 117.

149 Isidore, Chron. mai. 118.

150 Isidore, Chron. B 79; Chron. mai. 119. Cf. 1 Kings/3 Kings 15:10.

151 1 Kings/3 Kings 16:7; cf. Isidore, Chron. B 80; Chron. mai. 120.

152 Isidore, Chron. B 81-82; Chron. mai. 121-22.

153 Isidore, Chron. B 83; Chron. mai. 123.

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123

kingdom of IViAah}^'^ Ahaziah reigned for one year}^^ [Jehonadab attained
renown.f^^ Elijah was carried off [i.e., into heaven]. Athaliah reigned
for six years Jehonadab son of Rechab the priest attained renown™
Joash reigned for forty years.™ Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, was stoned
to death.'®' Amaziah reigned for twenty-nine years.™ Amos prophesied in
Israel.'®^ Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years.™

The kingdom of the Assyrians was transferred to the Medes\™ [beginning
with Belus], it had lasted one thousand three hundred and five years.'®®
Jotham reigned for sixteen years.™ Hosea, Joel and Isaiah prophesied.'®*
Ahaz reigned for sixteen years.™ Rome was founded,™ and Israel went
into exile amongst the Medes.'^^ Hezekiah reigned for twenty-nine years.™
Romulus appointed one hundred senators.™ Manasseh reigned for fifty-five
years.Numa added two months [i.e., to the calendar].'^® Amon reigned for
two years.™ Tullius conducted a census of the republic.™ Josiah reigned

154 Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 8:20.

155 Isidore, Chron. B 85; Chron. mai. 125. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 8:26.

156 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones (an en'oneous scribal insertion? see after
Athaliah below). Isidore, Chron. B 88; Chron. mai. 128.

157 Isidore, Chron. B 86; Chron. mai. 126.

158 Isidore, Chron. B 87; Chron. mai. 127 (seven years according to Isidore = the Septua-
gint). Cf. 2 Chron./2 Para. 22:12.

159 Isidore, Chron. B 88; Chron. mai. 128. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 10:15.

160 Isidore, Chron. B 89; Chron. mai. 130. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 12:1 (Joash).

161 2 Chron./2 Para. 24:20-21; cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 131.

162 Isidore, Chron. B 91; Chron. mai. 134.

163 Isidore, Chron. mai. 141.

164 Isidore, Chron. B 93; Chron. mai. 135. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 15:1-2.

165 Isidore, Chron. mai. 137.

166 Compare to Bede’s revised figure in The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 3192 (bracketed
phrase, FPSg only, Giles, Migne, Mommsen/Jones).

167 Isidore, Chron. B 95; Chron. mai. 142.

168 Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 144.

169 Isidore, Chron. B 97; Chron. mai. 145.

170 Isidore, Chron. B 98; cf. Chron. mai. 146.

171 Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 147.

172 Isidore, Chron. B 99; Chron. mai. 148.

173 Isidore, Chron. mai. 150.

174 Isidore, Chron. B 101; Chron. mai. 151.

175 Isidore, Chron. mai. 152-53; Numa was credited with adding the months of January
and Februaiy to the ten-month Roman calendar, cf. ch. 6 above, and The Reckoning of Time 12.

176 Isidore, Chron. B 103; Chron. mai. 155 (Isidore says twelve years; see also The
Reckoning of Time, AM 3310, where Bede gives the Septuagint figure as twenty).

177 Isidore, Chron. mai. 156. Tullius Hostilius was reputedly the third king of Rome.

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for thirty-one years.™ The natural philosopher Thales enjoyed renown.™
Jehoiakim reignedfor eleven years. In the thirdyearofhis reign Nebuchad¬
nezzar 7606/ captured Judea.^^^ Zedekiah reigned for eleven years.^^^ The
Temple of Jerusalem was burnt.™

21. The Fifth Age

The fifth age™ comprises five hundred and eighty-nine years. The captivity of the
Hebrews lasted seventy years. The history of Judith was written down. Darius
reigned for thirty-six years.™ In the second year of his reign, the captivity
of the Jews ended.™ Xerxes reigned for twenty-one years.™ The historiw
Herodotus gained recognition.™ Artaxerxes reigned for forty years.™ Ezra
restored the Law and Nehemiah, Jerusalem.™ Darius, who was also known
as the Bastard, reigned for nineteen years. ™ Plato was bom.™ Artaxerxes™
reigned for forty years. The story of Esther was completed.™ Artaxerxes, who
also was known as Ochus, ™ reigned for twenty-six years.™ Demosthenes and
Aristotle declaimed in public.™ Xerxes the son of Ochus™ reigned for four

178 Isidore, Chron. B 105; Chron. mai. 157. Thirty-two years according to Isidore (= the
Septuagint).

179 Isidore, Chron. mai. 158.

180 Isidore, Chron. B 107; Chron. mai. 160.

181 Isidore, Chron. mai. 161.

182 Isidore, Chron. B 109; Chron. mai. 163.

183 Isidore, Chron. B 110; cf. Chron. mai. 164.

184 Isidore, Chron. Bill; Chron. mai. 166a.

185 Isidore, Chron. B 112-14; Chron. mai. 167-68; 170. Darius reigned for thirty-four
years according to Isidore (= the Septuagint).

186 Isidore, Chron. B 115; Chron. mai. 171.

187 Isidore, Chron. B 116; Chron. mai. 173. Twenty years according to Isidore (= the
Septuagint).

188 Isidore, Chron. mai. 175; cf. Etym. 1.42.2.

189 Isidore, Chron. B 118; Chron. mai. 176.

190 Isidore, Chron. B 119; Chron. mai. 177-78.

191 Darius II, the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes I.

192 Isidore, Chron. B 120; Chron. mai. 181.

193 Isidore, Chron. B 121; Chron. mai. 182.

194 Artaxerxes II.

195 Isidore, Chron. B 122-23; Chron. mai. 183-84.

196 Artaxerxes III.

197 Isidore, Chron. B 124; Chron. mai. 186.

198 Isidore, Chron. B 125; Chron. mai. 187-88.

199 Xerxes III (also known as Arses).

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125

years. Xenocrates was famous.™ reigned for six years.

The kingdom of the Persians lasted up to this point; thereafter came the
kingdom of the Greeks.Alexander reigned for five years, for the seven
previous years of his reign are reckoned together with the Persian kings.
Ptolemy the son of Largus reigned for forty years.The first book of the
Maccabees begins. [ Ptolemy ] Philadelphus reigned for thirty-eight years. The
Seventy Translators won renown. [Ptolemy] Evergetes reigned for twenty-six
years. I6WII Jesus [son ofSirach] composed the book of Wisdom. [Ptolemy]
Philopator reigned for seventeen years. The second book of the Maccabees
begins.™ [Ptolemy] Epiphanes reigned for twenty-four years. The Romans
conquered the Greeks. [Ptolemy] Philometor reigned for thirty-five years.
Antiochus vanquished him and oppressed the Jews.™ [Ptolemy] Evergetes
reigned for twenty-nine years.™ Brutus subjugated Spain.™ ]Ptolemy] Soter
reigned for seventeen years.^'° Varro and Cicero were born.^^^ Alexander
reigned for ten years. Syria was made subject to the Romans by the general
Gabinius. Ptolemy the son of Cleopatra reigned for eight years.^^^ The
historian Sallust was bom.™ jPtolemy] Dionysius reigned for thirty years.
Pompey took Judea. Cleopatra reigned for two years.™

The kingdom of the Greeks lasted up to this point; thereafter came the
empire of the Romans. Julius Caesar, after whom the Caesars are named,
ruled for five years.™

200 Isidore, Chron. B 126-27; Chron. mai. 190-91.

201 Darius III (the son of Arsamus).

202 Isidore, Chron. B 128; Chron. mai. 192.

203 Isidore, Chron. mai. 194.

204 Isidore, Chron. B 130-31; Chron. mai. 195-96 {Largus, Isidore (some MSS), Bede;
Lagus (con'ectly), Isidore (other MSS).

205 Isidore, Chron. B 132-38; Chron. mai. 199-201, 204-6, 210.

206 Isidore, Chron. B 139^1; Chron. mai. 209, 210a, 212.

207 Isidore, Chron. mai. 213.

208 Isidore, Chron. B 143; Chron. mai. 215.

209 Isidore, Chron. B 144; cf. Chron. mai. 216.

210 Isidore, Chron. B 145; Chron. mai. 217.

211 Isidore, C/iron. mat. 218.

212 Isidore, Chron. B 147—49; Chron. mai. 220-21, 223. The chronology of the later
Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt is confusing. Isidore’s and Bede’s figures frequently differ from
those in modern works of reference.

213 Isidore, Chron. mai. 225.

214 Isidore, Chron. B 151-53; Chron. mai. 226-27, 232.

215 Isidore, Chron. B 155; Chron. mai. 233-34.

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22. The Sixth Age

The sixth comprises, to date, seven hundred and three years.^'^ Octavian
reigned for fifty-six yearsOur Lord was born in the forty-second year of
his reign,^^^ when three thousand nine hundred and fifty-two (or according
to others, five thousand one hundred and ninety-nine) years had passed since
Adam.^^° [From the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ to the reign of Tiberius
there are fourteen years. Tiberius ruled for twenty-three years?^^ The Lord
was crucified in the eighteenth year of his reignP^ Gains [Caligula] reigned
for four years. Matthew wrote his Gospel. Claudius reigned for fourteen
years.^^'^ Peter went to Rome, and Mark to 7608/ Alexandria.Nero reigned
for fourteen years. Peter and Paul were handed over to the cross and the
sword. Vespasian reigned for ten years. In the second year of his reign, Titus
destroyed Jerusalem. Titus reigned for two years he was eloquent and
benevolent.^^^ Domitian reigned for sixteen years. John was exiled to Patmos.
Nerva reigned for one year.^^^ On his return to Ephesus, the apostle John
composed his Gospel.^^^ Trajan reigned for nineteen years.^^'^ Simon, the
bishop of Jerusalem,^^^ was crucified, and the apostle John died. Hadrian

216 Isidore, Chron. B 157; Chron. mai. 237a.

217 dcciii, Sg; dccviii, Giles, Migne; dccviiii, Mommsen/Jones. On Times was composed
in 703 (see above, ch. 14, and below, ch. 22, n. 315; Jones, BOT, 130; Plummer, BOH, 1,
cxlvi). The figures dccviii and dccviiii perhaps arose at the time the exemplars of some of our
surviving manuscripts were copied. Makaso Ohashi has argued that the date was deliberately
altered in Gaul to conform to Victorius of Aquitaine’s chronology: ‘‘"Sexta aetas continet annos
praeteritos DCCVIIIF (Bede, De temporibus 22): a Scribal Error?’. However, the compai'able
annus praesens in ch. 14 is not altered, even in these manuscripts. The change could have
been introduced at Wearmouth-Jarrow itself, perhaps in the course of preparing a copy of On
Times for bishop Acca at his accession in 710, for in that year, seven hundred and nine full
years of the Sixth Age would have passed: we owe this suggestion to Peter Darby, University
of Birmingham.

218 Isidore, Chron. B 158; Chron. mai. 235.

219 Isidore, Chron. mai. 237.

220 See Commentary.

221 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones.

222 Isidore, Chron. B 160; Chron. mai. 238.

223 Isidore, Chron. mai. 239.

224 Isidore, Chron. B 162-64; Chron. mai. 240, 242—43.

225 Isidore, Chron. mai. 244^5.

226 Isidore, Chron. B 166-170; Chron. mai. 246^7, 250-52.

227 Isidore, Chron. B 171.

228 Isidore, Chron. B 172-74; Chron. mai. 257, 259, 262.

229 Isidore, Chron. mai. 263.

230 Isidore, Chron. B 176; Chron. mai. 264.

231 See Introduction, pp. 13-14.

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127

reigned for twenty-one yearsP^ The translator Aquila was held in high
esteemP^ Antoninus Pius reigned for twenty-two years [and four months].
Valentinus and Marcion enjoyed renownP^ Antoninus the youngeP^^ reigned
for nineteen yearsP'^ The heresy of the Cataphrygians aroseP^ Commodus
reigned for thirteen years. The translator Theodotion was held in high esteem.
Helius Pertinax reigned for one year.^^^ [He was killed by the treason of the
jurist Julianus.p^ [Septimius] Severus Pertinax reigned for eighteen years.
The translator Symmachus was held in high esteem.^^^ Antoninus Caracalla
reigned for seven years. A fifth version [i.e., of the holy Scriptures] was
discovered in Jerusalem. Macrinus reigned for one yearP^ \Ahgar, a holy
man, reignedP"^ according to Africanus.f^^ Aurelius Antoninus^^^ reigned for
four years.A sixth version [of the Scriptures] was found at Nicopolis.^^^
Alexander reigned for thirteen years. Origen enjoyed fame at Alexandria.
Maximus reigned for three years. He persecuted the 7609/ Christians.

232 Isidore, Chron. B 177—78; Chron. mai. 266-68.

233 Isidore, Chron. B 179; Chron. mai. 270. Aquila Ponticus translated the Old Testament
from Hebrew into Greek.

234 Isidore, Chron. B 180; Chron. mai. 272 (bracketed phrase, Giles, Migne; mens, iii, FP
only, Mommsen/Jones).

235 Isidore, Chron. B 181; Chron. mai. 274.

236 Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Antoninus Venas).

237 Isidore, Chron. B 182; Chron. mai. 276 (eighteen years according to Isidore).

238 Isidore, Chron. B 183; Chron. mai. 211. The Cataphrygians were followers of the
second-century heresiarch Montanus.

239 Isidore, Chron. B 184—86; Chron. mai. 278-79, 281.

240 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Jerome, Chron. (ed. Helm, p. 210.16-
17); Orosius 7.16.5-6 (CSEL 5, 473.16). Pertinax was succeeded by Didius Julianus. See The
Reckoning of Time 66, AM 4146. The notion that Julianus was a lawyer may result from confu¬
sion with the famed jurist Salvius Julianus.

241 Isidore, Chron. B 188; Chron. mai. 283.

242 Isidore, Chron. B 189; Chron. mai. 284. Symmachus translated the Old Testament
into Greek.

243 Isidore, Chron. B 190-92; Chron. mai. 288-90.

244 At Edessa.

245 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 290b. Africanus is
Julius Africanus, the chronographer and historian (AD 1707-240?).

246 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known as Heliogabalus.

247 Isidore, Chron. B 194; Chron. mai. 291 (Isidore gives the years of Heliogabalus as
three; Bede follows Jerome in making them four).

248 Isidore, Chron. mai. 292.

249 Isidore, Chron. B 196-98; Chron. mai. 294-95, 297. Maximus = Maximinus Thrax.

250 Isidore, Chron. mai. 299.

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Gordian reigned for seven years?^^ Fabian was honoured as bishop
of RomePhilip reigned for seven yearsP^ He was the first Christian
emperorP'^ Decius reigned for one yearP^ Antony the monk was famous
[in Egypt]. Gallus and Volusianus reigned for two years. The Novatianist
heresy emerged. Valerian reigned with Gallienus for fifteen years. Cyprian
won the crown of martyrdom. Claudius reigned for two years.^^^ Paul of
Samosata launched a heresy.^®* Aurelian reigned for five years. He perse¬
cuted the Christians. Tacitus reigned for one year.^^^ [Bishop Anatolius of
Laodicea in Syria enjoyed renown. Probus reigned for six years. The
Manichean heresy arose. Carus reigned for two years. He triumphed over
the Persians. Diocletian and Maximian reigned for twenty years. Under
these persecutors, 17,000 people died within 30 days.^“ Valerius^®^ reigned
for two years.[The short span of this reign furnished nothing worthy of
historical record.f^^ Constantine reigned for thirty years. The Council of
Nicaea was convened. Constantius and Constans reigned for twenty-four
years.The bones of Andrew and Luke were translated to Constantinople.
Julian reigned for two years. Having reverted to paganism from Christi¬
anity, he persecuted the Christians. Jovian reigned for one year. Together
with his entire army, he converted to Christianity. Valentinian reigned for

251 Isidore, Chron. B 200; Chron. mai. 300.

252 Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 301, where the pope is called Flavian.

253 Isidore, Chron. B 202; Chron. mai. 302.

254 Isidore, Chron. B 203; Chron. mai. 303. The claim that Philip (emperor 244—249) was
Christian originates with Eusebius, but is certainly false.

255 Isidore, Chron. B 204; Chron. mai. 305.

256 Isidore, Chron. B 205; Chron. mai. 306 (bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones).

257 Isidore, Chron. B 206-10; Chron. mai. 307-10, 313.

258 Isidore, Chron. mai. 315.

259 Isidore, Chron. B 212-14; Chron. mai. 316-18.

260 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Cf. Jerome, Chron. (ed. Helm, pp.
223.21-22).

261 Isidore, Chron. B 215-19; Chron. mai. 320-24.

262 his persecutoribus ... passi sunt, EHM, Mommsen/Jones; his ... christianorum
patiuntur, Sg: Liber pontificalis 30 (ed. Duschesne, 1, 162); iste persequitur christianos, FP,
Giles, Migne.

263 Valerius, MSg; Valerianus, EH, Mommsen/Jones; Maximinus Severusque, Giles,
Migne. The reference is to Galerius Valerius Maximianus (305-311).

264 Isidore, Chron. B 221; Chron. mai. 327 (Galerius).

265 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 328.

266 Isidore, Chron. B 222-24; Chron. mai. 329, 331, 335.

267 Isidore, Chron. mai. 342.

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fourteen years He had been deprived of his military command by Julian
7610/ on account of his faith in Christ.^®® Gratian reigned for six years
The bishops Ambrose and Martin enjoyed renownf^^ [Valens reigned for
three years. Valentinian^^^ reigned with Theodosius for nine years.
Jerome preached in Bethlehem.[There was a council of 350 bishops in
Constantinople, at which all the heresies were condemned.Y’^ Theodosius,
with Arcadius and Honorius, reigned for three years. John the Anchorite
enjoyed renown. Arcadius, together with his brother Honorius, reigned for
thirteen yearsP^ The bishops John Chrysostom and Augustine preached.^^^
Honorius, with Theodosius II, reigned for fifteen years.™ Cyril of Alexan¬
dria enjoyed renown.^^® [A Council of 214 bishops at Carthage condemned
Pelagius.]™ Theodosius II reigned for twenty-six years The Council of
Ephesus condemned Nestorius.^^^ Marcian reigned for seven years.™ The
Council of Chalcedon was held.™ [The English people arrived in Britain.]^*®
Leo I reigned for seventeen years.™ Egypt was in an uproar over the error of
Dioscorus.™ [Leo II reigned for one year. Theodoric the king took Rome.]^**
Zeno reigned for seventeen years.™ The body of the apostle Barnabas was
found.™ Anastasius reigned for twenty-seven years.™ Bishop Eulgentius

268 Isidore, Chron. B 226-30; Chron. mai. 343—44, 346—48.

269 Augustine, DCD 18.52 (CCSL 49, 651).

270 Isidore, Chron. B 232; Chron. mai. 353.

271 Isidore, Chron. mai. 353, 355.

272 Bracketed sentence P only, Mommsen/Jones.

273 Valentinian IL

274 Isidore, Chron. B 234—35; Chron. mai. 356, 358.

275 Bracketed sentence EHMSg only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 357.

276 Isidore, Chron. B 236-38; Chron. mai. 362-63, 365.

277 Cf. Isidore, Chron. B 239, 241; Chron. mai. 369-70.

278 Isidore, Chron. B 240; Chron. mai. 371.

279 Isidore, Chron. mai. 375.

280 Bracketed sentence EHMSg only, Mommsen/Jones. Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 374.

281 Isidore, Chron. B 242; Chron. mai. 376 (twenty-seven years according to Isidore).

282 Isidore, Chron. mai. 378.

283 Isidore, Chron. B 244; Chron. mai. 380 (six years according to Isidore).

284 Isidore, Chron. B 245; Chron. mai. 381.

285 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones.

286 Isidore, Chron. B 246; Chron. mai. 383.

287 Isidore, Chron. B 247; Chron. mai. 384.

288 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones.

289 Isidore, Chron. B 248; Chron. mai. 386.

290 Isidore, Chron. mai. 388.

291 Isidore, Chron. B 250; Chron. mai. 389.

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preached}'^'^ Justin reigned for eight years. The heresy of the Acephali was
put down.^^^ [Abbot Benedict enjoyed renowM.]®'* Justinian reigned for
thirty-nine years.^'^^ The first cycle of Dionysius begins in the sixth year
of his reign. Justin II reigned for eleven years. The Armenians received
the faith of Christ. Tiberius reigned for 16111 seven years. Herminigild,
the king of the Goths, won the crown of martyrdom.^®* Maurice reigned
for twenty-one years.^^'^ Gregory, the bishop of Rome, flourished.^®® Phocas
reigned for eight years. The Saxons in Britain received the faith of Christ.
Heraclius reigned for thirty-six years.^®^ The Jews in Spain were compelled to
become Christians. Heracleonas with his mother Martina reigned for two
years.^®^ [At this time, the heresy of the Acephali was renewed.]^®^ Constan¬
tine, the son of Heraclius, reigned for six months. [At this time, this same
heresy of the Acephali was condemned by an anathema.]^®® Constantine,^®^
the son of Constantine, reigned for twenty-eight years. An eclipse of the

292 Isidore, Chron. B 251; cf. Chron. mai. 391.

293 Isidore, Chron. B 252-53; Chron. mai. 394-94a.

294 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 399c.

295 Isidore, Chron. B 254; Chron. mai. 397.

296 I.e., the first nineteen-year cycle of Dionysius Exiguus, which begins in AD 532. In
Krusch’s edition of Dionysius’s prologue (Krusch, 2, 64), Dionysius explains that he has (a)
translated Cyril of Alexandria’s table into Latin, and there are six years still to go in that
table, and (b) constiTicted a ninety-five-year extension of Cyril’s table, beginning in the year
of Diocletian 248, i.e. AD 532. Justinian came to the throne in 527, so Bede is correct that
Dionysius’s first complete cycle begins in the sixth year of the emperor’s reign. However, the
tables were composed in 525, when the Cyrillian table still had six years to run. At the end of
the prologue (p. 68) Dionysius says that in the present year the indiction is three, the year of
the nineteen-year cycle is 13 and the year of the lunar cycle is 10, in the consulship of Probus
the Younger, which con'esponds to 525.

297 Isidore, Chron. B 256-58; Chron. mai. 401, 401b, 404.

298 Cf. Gregory, Dialogues 3.31 (ed. de Vogue, Sources chretiennes 260, pp. 384-89).

299 Isidore, Chron. B 260; Chron. mai. 406.

300 Isidore, Chron. mai. 408b.

301 Isidore, Chron. mai. 410; cf. Chron. B 262 (which states that he reigned for seven
years).

302 Cf. Isidore, Chron. B 264; Chron. mai. 414. The manuscripts of DT are not in accord
on the number of years of Heraclius’s reign; see The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 4591, where
Bede gives the years as twenty-five.

303 Isidore, Chron. B 265; cf. Chron. mai. 416.

304 Adnotationes antiquiores ad cyclos Dionysianos, ed. Mommsen, MGH: AA 9.1, p. 753
[but there is no reference to Maitina here].

305 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones.

306 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones.

307 Constans II.

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ON TIMES

131

sun took place in the seventh indiction, on the S* nones of May [3 May].^°®
Constantine,^® the son of the previous Constantine reigned for seventeen
years. He summoned the Sixth [Ecumenical] Council.^'® Justinian, the son
of Constantine, reigned for ten years.[Because of his criminal perfidy
he was deposed and sent into exile.Africa was restored to the Roman
empire. Leo^'^ reigned for three years. At present, Tiberius^'"^ has reigned for
five years, and it is the first indiction.The rest of the sixth age is known
to God alone?^^

308 Cf. The Reckoning of Time, AM 4622; EH 3.27. The eclipse actually took place on 1
May 664; see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, commentary on ch. 43.

309 Constantine IV.

310 Liber Pontificalis 82.2 (ed. Duschesne, 1, 359). This was the Third Council of Constan¬
tinople, 680-681.

311 Justinian II was deposed after ten years of rule in 685, but regained the throne in 705.

312 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones.

313 Leontius.

314 Tiberius III Apsimar (emperor 698-705).

315 AD 703.

316 Isidore, Chron. B 266; cf. Chron. mai. 418.

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Figure 1 Schematic model of Bede’s cosmos

COMMENTARY:

ON THE NATURE OF THINGS (ONT)

ONT, Verse epigraph

Like two other of Bede’s earliest works, his Commentary on the Apocalypse
and On the Holy Places, On the Nature of Things is prefaced by a verse
epigraph. The epigraph is curious, in that it suggests that the ‘brief chapters’
to follow will deal with both the ‘natures of things’ and the ‘broad ages of
fleeting time’. In fact, ONT does not deal with the world-ages, though OT
certainly does. One solution would be that Bede composed the two works
together, and intended them as companion-texts. But if this was the case,
why did he not follow Isidore, his principal source, by keeping cosmography
and chronology within the same covers? He did, to be sure, re-unite them in
The Reckoning of Time (his preface to this work mentions them in the same
breath) but on rather different terms, namely with the cosmography selected
and integrated into the computistical framework. In sum, the contents of
the epigraph seem to point to some conceptual unity between ONT and
OT, while retaining separate vocational identities for the two works. See
Introduction, pp. 4-5.

ONT, Chapter 1: The Fourfold Work of God

From the opening chapter of ONT, Bede telegraphs his intentions with regard
to the book that is at once his model, and the rival he intends to surpass:
Isidore’s De natura rerum. Where Isidore, in the conventional manner of a
classical school-cosmography, begins his cosmography (following eight
introductory chapters on time) with the universe, Bede begins with creation.
Isidore, to be sure, remarks that the subject of the first chapter of DNR, the
day, happens to be almost the first visible thing created by God, but this is a
pious aside, without structural significance for the work as a whole. In ‘The
Fourfold Work of God’ Bede, leaning heavily on the thought of Augustine,
establishes God’s many-layered creative action as the foundation of the
material universe. Creation understood as divine operatio or activity, operates
in four dimensions or on four levels. In the dispensation of the Second Person
of the Trinity, the eternal Word by which all things were made, one can say that

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136 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

God’s creation exists eternally. Secondly, there are the elements co-created
with primordial matter; and in that sense, God made all that he made instanta¬
neously. Thirdly, there was the creation described in Genesis, when the causes,
created all together and all at once, acted in temporal sequence to differentiate
the elements into the contents of the material world. Finally, God’s work of
creation continues in the form of his governance of the universe. The creative
causes now operate to reproduce and replenish life, a theme developed in
chapter 2. In sum, Bede does not begin his account of the universe with the
universe itself, for to do so would imply that the cosmos is self-sufficient and
eternal. Instead, he begins with the cause - or rather, the layered causality -
that brings the world into being. He does not begin with the sequential narra¬
tive of Genesis, but with the wider metaphysical and theological context of
creation itself as a divine action. The elements are not parts of the world, but
properties of the matter from which God makes the world; the world is not
self-existent, but encompassed by causes which direct its formation and assure
its continued existence.' He revisits this theme in chapter 5 of The Reckoning
of Time, where he says that some Fathers claim that the initial simultaneous
creation was a creation of ‘a single seedbed material {seminaria ... materiesf ,
an idea derived from Augustine’s De Genesi ad Utteram (The Literal Inter¬
pretation of Genesis)} It is therefore noteworthy that Bede’s commentary On
Genesis does not so distinguish the levels of divine creative action. To be sure,
Bede does stress that heaven and earth are created at one and the same time,
even though human speech must perforce name the creation of earth after that
of heaven,^ and he explains that though the Bible mentions the creation of earth
and the waters together in Genesis 1:1-2, one may take the other two elements
to be implicitly present."* He also observes that the plants were created on the
third day instantaneously in full springtime bloom, just as the first man was
created an adult,^ and that all the genera of animals came into being instantly,
even though the Bible refers to them one after another.® But there is no hint
here of pre-existing causes.

Bede’s chapter is based on Augustine’s enumeration of four kinds of
creation, (1) the pre-existence of all things in the mind of God, (2) all matter,
(3) living things, (4) the offspring of living things:

1 See Wallis, ‘Bede and Science’.

2 See in particular Augustine, DGAL 5.23 (CSEL 28.1, 167-69) and 6.10 (CSEL 28.1,
182-83). Bede quotes from DGAL in this chapter, and it was a foundational text for his On Genesis.

3 On Genesis 1.1:1, trans. Kendall, p. 68.

4 On Genesis l.l:2a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 70-71.

5 On Genesis 1.1:11-13, trans. Kendall, pp. 79-80.

6 On Genesis l.l:25a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 89.

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137

But these things [i.e., all things that are, including space and time, and spiritual
and material objects] exist (1) one way in the Word of God, where they were
not made, but are eternal; (2) another way in the elements of the world, where
everything that will be was made at once; (3) another way in things that are
created partly from existing causes, and partly from causes not yet existing, but
each of them severally coming into existence at its own appointed time, among
which can be cited Adam, who was already formed from mud, but was also
brought to life by the breath of God, like the risen grass [cf. Isa. 40:6]; and (4)
another way in seeds, in which primordial things are repeated, as it were, led
from things which existed from things that he created first, like the plant from
the earth, the seed from the plant.’

Bede retains Augustine’s four categories, but in accordance with his own
interests puts the emphasis in (4) on time as the matrix of reproduction.

ONT, Chapter 2: The Formation of the World

Bede’s statement that on the seventh day God rested from the work of creation,
but not from the governance (gubematio) of creation - an idea which re-appears
in a similar context and with identical terminology in On Genesis^ - has no
traceable source. However it bears a striking resemblance to the notion of
providence as extended creation in Augustinus Hibernicus’s De mimbilibus
sacrae scripturae {On the Marvels of Holy Scripture):

But we must consider more carefully how the same God can be considered to
have finished then, and to be working now. On the sixth day he completed his
work on the natures of created things, but even now he does not cease to govern
them; and on the seventh day he rested from the work of creation (ab opere
creationis), but he never ceases from the exercise of government {a guberna-
tionis regimine). For we are to understand that God was a creator then {tunc
... Creator), but is a Governor now {nunc Gubernator). Therefore if among
created things we see anything new arise, God should not be thought to have
created a new nature, when he is only bringing forth from the hidden depths of
its [existing] nature that which lay concealed within.^

While there is no direct evidence that Bede knew this work (though he
definitely used other Irish cosmographical texts), this passage constitutes a
significant piece of circumstantial evidence pointing in this direction.

7 Augustine, DGAL 6.10 (CSEL 28.1, 182.18-183.1) (trans. Kendall).

8 In Gen., ed. Jones, 35.1088-1092; On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 100.

9 Trans. Carey, King of Mysteries, pp. 52-53; original text in PL 35.2151-2152. See Carey,
A Single Ray of the Sun, ch. 2.

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13 8 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

ONT, Chapter 3: What the World Is

Only in chapter 3 when the status of the created world is clarified does Bede
turn from the act of creation to creation as the product of that act. Now he
can pick up Isidore’s definition of the universe and transform it with the
help of Pliny’s Natural History, notably by introducing the concept of the
elements as the constituents of the universe.

ONT, Chapter 4: The Elements

Pliny’s definition of the world as the four elements actually constitutes Bede’s
plan for ONT, giving it a distinctive structure that sets it apart from Isidore’s
work. The four elements determine not only the qualities of material entities
but also their location according to relative weight. Fire is the lightest element,
and naturally moves to the highest place; earth is the heaviest, and will always
seek the lowest position. Air is heavier than fire but lighter than water, while
water is heavier than air but lighter than earth. Hence the elements define
four vertically arranged realms in the material cosmos. Bede will arrange his
text as a top-to-bottom survey of these realms: the heavens (fire, chs. 5-23),
the atmosphere (air, chs. 24—37), the waters upon the earth (chs. 38^3) and
the features of the earth itself (chs. 44-51). The idea of the elements as a
vertical chain binding heaven and earth goes back to the roots of this schema
in Plato’s Timaeus 31B-32B, but Bede’s immediate source was an Irish
cosmography, the pseudo-Isidore’s Liber de ordine creaturarum {The Book
on the Order of Creatures). In On Genesis, Bede will link this vertical order
to the sequence by which the cosmos is ‘adorned’ from the fourth to the
sixth days of creation.*'’

The general statement that air rises above water is in his source, but Bede
adds the detail about air and water in a vessel, which suggests some kind of
simple experiment, like blowing air through a hollow reed into a vessel of
water and observing the bubbles rising to the surface.

ONT, Chapter 5: The Firmament

The term firmamentum to denote the sky ‘fixed’ above the earth is a purely
Biblical one, unknown to classical science. Bede uses the classical term
coelum in this chapter, but the chapter heading implies, without going into
detail or arguing the point, that he understood the firmament created by
God on the second day as identical with the celestial sphere of the ancients.
His doctrine on the celestial realm is also strictly classical: it is the realm

10 On Genesis l.l:14a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 80.

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139

of the element fire; it is a perfect sphere; it revolves once each day on its
axis, which passes through the north and south poles of the Earth. Bede
may be thinking of the terrestrial extremities of the axis when he refers to
the wasting cold. The casual equation of the southern hemisphere with ‘the
chambers of the south’ of Job 9:9 is typical of the oblique manner in which
Bede connects cosmology with Christian learning. Unlike Isidore and some
of the Irish writers of the seventh century, he does not spell out allegories
or seek to explain the miracles or mysteries of Scripture. Rather, he glances
sidewise from time to time at the sacred text.

Notice Bede’s use of the term sapientes mundi, ‘those who are knowl¬
edgeable about the world’. This seems to be a way of avoiding the term
philosophi, which had negative overtones for Bede. Indeed, in his Biblical
commentaries he equates philosophi with heretics."

ONT, Chapter 6: The Varied Height of Heaven

This chapter, a quotation from Pliny, elaborates on the spherical shape of
the cosmos. The stars which rotate around the North Pole, particularly the
Great Bear and Little Bear (or Big and Little Dipper) seem to be ‘higher
up’ in the sky - that is, closer to the zenith - in higher latitudes than in
lower ones. Likewise, the constellations further away from the North Pole
will move towards the zenith the further one travels to the south, and new
constellations invisible to northerners because of the intervening bulge of
the planet will come into view. Bede is particularly interested in the issue of
the sphericity of the universe and of planet Earth (see ch. 46 below).

As Wallis has argued elsewhere, Bede also saw the structure of the
universe in vividly architectural terms, but successfully merged this with
a rigorously spherical model of the physical cosmos." We can, perhaps,
speculate that Bede’s way of imaging the perfection of heaven and eternity
had something to do with circularity, which is why the endless circle of the
Paschal cycle was such a powerful allegory of the world to come.

ONT, Chapter 7: Upper Heaven

In his commentary On Genesis, Bede observes that the ‘heaven’ whose
simultaneous creation with ‘earth’ is recorded in Genesis 1:1 is the upper
heaven, the abode of the angels (who were themselves created in the instant
that upper heaven was created) and of God himself. It is not the heaven of

11 Bede, In primam partem Samuhelis 4.31.1; /n Ezram et Neemiam 1, lines 1883-94. See
Brown, A Companion to Bede, p. 20 and nn. 12-13.

12 Wallis, ‘Caedmon’s Created World and the Monastic Encyclopedia’.

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140 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

the stars and planets,'^ which he calls ‘our heaven’*'* or the ‘ether’.*^ Upper
heaven is an invisible spiritual realm, illuminated by a perpetual and invari¬
able light which existed before the creation of material light.*** It is separated
from the astronomical heavens by the ‘waters above the firmament’ (see ch.
8), and so is not part of the elemental zone of fire. The angels who inhabit
this heaven are also immaterial, though they can assume bodies of such
materiality that they can eat like men - a point discussed in some detail both
in On Genesis 1 and in On Genesis 4 in the context of Abraham’s and Lot’s
hospitality to the angels.*’

ONT, Chapter 8: The Heavenly Waters

In On Genesis, Bede explains that the reference to the abyss (Genesis 1:2)
implies that God created waters along with heaven and earth, even before
he created light.** Water and earth in that sense were the hrst elements to
be created. The essentially ‘secular’ vocation of ONT is nowhere so clearly
illustrated as in this chapter, where Bede not only sets aside the historical
narrative of creation, but sidesteps one of the most vexatious questions of
Christian cosmology, namely, how to account for the existence of the ‘waters
above the firmament’ of Genesis hi An On Genesis, Bede was ready to meet
this question head on. There he explained, with support from Augustine and
Ambrose, that the waters above the firmament are actually solid - crystal¬
lized like quartz. Hence there is no need to be anxious that they would ever
fall down. Moreover, like clouds that sail along in the air, these heavenly
waters can remain aloft on the foundation of hrmer elements below them.*^
Here, on the other hand, Bede focuses on a totally different question - one
which he would, interestingly, explicitly avoid in On Genesis. The waters
are simply assumed to exist, and their nature is not discussed. But what is
their purposel^° The Irish pseudo-Isidore offers a naturalistic explanation:
they were not a reservoir for the Flood, but a buffer to cool the intense heat
of the heavenly bodies.

13 On Genesis l.l:2a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 69-70.

14 On Genesis l.l:2a/b; l.l:6-8, trans. Kendall, pp. 69 and 75.

15 On Genesis l.l:21a/d, trans. Kendall, pp. 86-87.

16 On Genesis 1.1:2c, trans. Kendall, pp. 72—73.

17 On Genesis l.l:29-30c; 4.18:2-3, trans. Kendall, pp. 95, 290-91.

18 On Genesis l.l:2a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 70.

19 On Genesis 1.1:6-8, trans. Kendall, p. 76.

20 In On Genesis 1.1:6-8, trans. Kendall, p. 76, Bede bypasses the question of the purpose
of these waters by asserting that it is something known to God alone.

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ONT, Chapter 9: The Five Circles of the World

This chapter unfolds in a very matter-of-fact manner, but contains some
potential sources of misunderstanding. Bede and his sources carefully distin¬
guish between the divisions of the spherical universe into five zones, which
projected onto the earth become five regions (the subject of this chapter),
and the division of the inhabited lands of the earth into three continents (the
subject of ch. 51). This distinction is reflected in two types of world-map:
the zonal schema transmitted principally through Macrobius, and the T-0
map, a presumably classical form that became attached to some manuscripts
of Isidore of Seville’s De natura rerum}^ While the T-0 map represents the
inhabited territories of the world as a disc of land encircled by a ribbon of
ocean (see Commentary on ch. 51 below), the zonal map illustrates the globe
in its entirety. Sometimes the two forms are combined, with the map of the
inhabited continents inserted into the northern temperate zone.^^

In the discussion in this chapter there are five circles and five regions.
The Latin circulus may refer to either. The circles are the northern (the
Arctic Circle, 66°33’N), the summer solstitial (the Tropic of Cancer,
23°27’N), the equinoctial (the equator, 0°), the winter solstitial (the Tropic
of Capricorn, 23°27’S), and the southern (the Antarctic Circle, 66°33’S).
These circles are conceived as imaginary lines on the Earth’s surface (=
parallels of latitude) or as projected upon the heavenly sphere. The same
terms describe the five regions marked off by these circles: the North Erigid
zone, the North Temperate zone, the Torrid zone, the South Temperate zone,
and the South Frigid zone. However, it is important to bear in mind that Bede
is still discussing the heavens. He is thus interested in the zones as markers
of the annual passage of the sun through the seasons, as well as their impli¬
cations for the climates of the earth. When this material was expanded in On
the Reckoning of Time 34, this link between geography and time-reckoning
would be made more explicit.

Bede describes the southern zone between the Tropic of Capricorn and
the Antarctic Circle as ‘temperate and habitable’ without qualification,
and this may have provoked some questions, or even criticisms, from his
readers. In The Reckoning of Time 34, Bede will explain at some length
that though this zone is theoretically habitable, it is inconceivable that it
should actually be inhabited. His principal argument is from Pliny: the two

21 See Teresi, ‘Anglo-Saxon and Early Anglo-Norman MappaemundV, pp. 341-67,
especially the schematic rendition of the two types on p. 347, and our Commentaiy on ONT 51.

22 E.g. in British Library, Cotton Tiberius B V (Winchester or Canterbury, s. xi^*^), illus¬
trated in Teresi, pi. 9.

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zones must be mutually isolated, since they are separated by the impassable
equatorial region. Bede does not go into the religious implications of this,
namely that if humans did exist in the southern temperate zone, it would
negate both the Biblical account of the origin of the human race, and Christ’s
command to take the Gospel to all mankind.However, as we have seen, his
general policy (in contrast to Isidore) is not to introduce theological issues
or allegorical readings into ONT. God’s act of creation is the overarching
framework of the physical world, but Bede prefers to let particular facts tell
their own story.

Bede’s parting comment on the conditions at Thule is also rather curious.
He seems to imply that the sun never shines there, and for this reason (unde)
the sea is perpetually frozen. However, in The Reckoning of Time 31, and
even in On Times 7, Bede states that Thule, far from being in perpetual
darkness, enjoys six months of unbroken daylight and six months of night.
When he says that the outermost circles ‘always lack the sun’, he may mean
only that the sun is never directly overhead, as happens between the tropics
of Cancer and Capricorn. See p. 79, n. 55.

ONT, Chapter 10: The Regions of the World

In this chapter, Bede shifts his perspective slightly, from the circles of
the world, to its plagae - ‘regions’ or ‘quarters’. The context shows that
he is working with the ancient Greco-Roman technique for laying out a
sundial on the ground - making a compass or wind rose. This technique was
certainly known in Bede’s time and milieu, because it is represented in the
astronomical sundial in the early eighth-century Calendar of St Willibrord
(Paris, BNF lat. 10837, fol. 42r).^‘^ Willibrord’s diagram specihes a solstitial
day of 18 hours, so it was plainly created in the northern British Isles.To
fashion such a compass, an observer in the northern hemisphere would have
to face south, since the sun will always be south of the zenith. The dial or
compass would be marked with the points on the horizon where the sun rises
and sets on the two solstices and the equinoxes. The positions of sunrise

23 Augustine, DCD 16.9, discusses the question. Irish scholars were particulaidy curious
about the possibility of antipodeans: see Smyth, Understanding the Universe in Seventh-
Century Ireland, pp. 285-90 and Carey, ‘Ireland and the Antipodes’, pp. 1-10.

24 This technique is described in Pliny’s NH 18.323. Bede did not have access to this book,
but he and his contemporaries may have learned it from a manual of surveying.

25 See Obrist, ‘The Astronomical Sundial in Saint Willibrord’s Calendar and Its Early
Medieval Context’, esp. pp. 84—88. On prehistoric and ancient horizon calendars, compasses
and wind roses, see Taub, Ancient Meteorology, pp. 103-6; and McCluskey, Astronomies and
Cultures in Early Medieval Europe, pp. 11-18, esp. p. 15.

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and sunset could be used anywhere on the globe, regardless of latitude, to
establish the cardinal directions. Since the sun rises due east everywhere on
earth at the equinoxes, the line between the equinoctial sunrise and sunset,
passing through the observer, will divide the disc of the horizon in half. The
‘east’ is the zone of the horizon within which a sunrise can occur, with the
point of equinoctial sunrise in the middle. The ‘west’ is the corresponding
zone of possible sunsets. The ‘south’ is the space between the winter sunrise
in the east and the winter sunset in the west, with due south in the middle of
this arc; the ‘north’ is the corresponding sector between midsummer sunrise
and sunset. East and west will be equal slices of the pie, as will north and
south. However, depending on latitude, the east-west and north-south pairs
will differ in size. As Bede observes, the length of the equinoctial day is
constant, but the length of solstitial days will vary with latitude. The east-
west and north-south regions are equal [aequalia] only for persons halfway
between the equator and the pole. They become progressively distorted as
one moves either to the north or to the south. On any day of the year a
line drawn from the point on the horizon where the sun rises through the
observer on to the point on the horizon where the sun sets six months later
will always be straight.

The use of a sunrise-sunset diagram as the basis of a compass can be
illustrated by a horologium in the Willibrord tradition, based on a computus
manuscript of the early twelfth century, Oxford, St John’s College 17, fol.
35v (Eigure 2). The centre of the diagram marks the observer’s position,
facing south (top); the circumference is the horizon.^* It is interesting,
nonetheless, that Bede does not include such an illustration, or indeed any
other illustration, in ONT. His model, Isidore’s DNR, was famous for its
schemata, particularly the circular diagrams that earned it the alternative
title of Liber rotarum. But Bede seems to have deliberately chosen to elimi¬
nate them.

ONT, Chapter 11: The Stars

Bede packs a substantial amount of cosmology into this chapter. Eirst,
he distinguishes two types of star: the stars that form the constellations,
which are represented as fixed in the revolving shell of the hrmament, and
which rotate with that shell from east to west once each day; and the planets
beneath them, which pursue an errant course. Small hery bodies can fall
from the ether into the atmosphere, and be blown about by the winds; these

26 For a description of the technique, see Obrist, The Astronomical Sundial in Saint Willi-
brord’s Calendar and Its Early Medieval Context’, pp. 71-118. See also below, p. 173.

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south (between winter
solstice sunrise and
winter solstice sunset)

Figure 2 Horologium

are {inter alia) the comets, and are not to be confused with the planets, as
their movement is not produced by the revolutions of the heavens. Bede also
introduces the subject of celestial influence. This was a fundamental and
unquestioned notion in ancient physics. The heavens move and so are active;
the earth does not, and so is passive. Changes in the position of the sun
affect the seasons, and the moon’s phases control the tides; hence it stood
to reason that other terrestrial phenomena were subject to the influence of
the planets and stars. However, Bede in accordance with the ancient tradi¬
tions of astrometeorology keeps this influence on the macroscopic level of
the weather and seasonal change,^^ and avoids any suggestion of astrology.
Rather remarkably, Bede does not refer to the use of the stars as a nocturnal
clock for monastic time-telling, or for corroborating the solar year.^®

27 Cf. On Genesis l.l:17b-18b, trans. Kendall, pp. 83-84. See also North, ‘Medieval
Concepts of Celestial Influence’, pp. 5-17; and for the classical background of astrometeorological
almanacs and parapegmata, Taub, Ancient Meteorology, pp. 7-8, and ch. 2 passim.

28 For monastic time-telling by stars, see McCluskey, ‘Gregory of Tours, Monastic
Timekeeping, and Early Christian Attitudes to Astronomy’, pp. 9-22; for the heliacal rising

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ONT, Chapter 12: The Course of the Planets

The planets lie in the zone of the heavens below the fixed stars, but above
the atmosphere. Bede explains that their trajectory is contrary to that of the
universe as a whole, meaning that while they are borne about from east to
west once each day like the fixed stars, they simultaneously, and at varying
rates, move in the opposite direction, from west to east, along the path of
the ecliptic and across its width. From our modem point of view, the Earth is
rotating around the sun, as well as turning on its own axis. Hence, while the
whole dome of heaven seems to rise in the east and set in the west once each
day, the stars which we are able to see will change slightly every night, as we
change our position in our annual orbit. Thus the dome of the hxed stars seems
to move slightly faster than one full rotation each day. We see new constella¬
tions rising over the eastern horizon each evening, and the sun, in the course of
a year, or the moon in the course of a month, seems to move ‘backwards’, from
west to east, along the zodiac. Bede alludes to the phenomena of planetary
station and retrogradation, but does not explain these at any length. Briefly,
in the course of their circuit around the ecliptic, the outer planets (Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn) will occasionally appear to stop and go backwards before
resuming their journey from west to east. This is an illusion created by
the earth’s movement around the sun in the course of the year. The revival
of Ptolemaic astronomy in the west, particularly from the twelfth century
onwards, would provide sophisticated geometrical models to explain this
phenomenon, but Bede, following Isidore, envisaged it as the product of the
sun’s attractive power.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, you will always have to face south
if you want to look at the ecliptic, the path of the sun and the planets. If you
are facing south, the heavens, in their diurnal rotation, will rise on your left
(east) and set on your right (west). In the course of their journey around the
zodiac, the planets will, at varying speeds, ‘swim against the current’ from
your right (west) to your left (east).^^

ONT, Chapter 13: Their Order

Bede now explains that the planets are not all on the same plane, but arranged
in vertical order. Saturn is the farthest from Earth, and also from the sun, and
so is cold. Its journey through the zodiac requires thirty years. Jupiter, the
next in line, is temperate, but Mars, which is next to the sun, is fiery. The sun

and setting of stars as means of indirectly defining the solar year, see McCluskey, Astronomies
and Cultures, p. 8.

29 See the Byrhtferth gloss in PL 90, 209 and 327-28.

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146 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

is in the middle of the ladder. Below it lie Venus, Mercury, and the moon.
Venus and Mercury seem, from a geocentric perspective, constantly to hover
in the vicinity of the sun; from our modern heliocentric viewpoint, we know
that this is because their orbits lie within that of the earth. Finally, there is
the moon, which passes around the zodiac in 27 days and eight hours - a
sidereal lunar month. Bede, however, wants to focus on the synodic lunar
month of about 29 Vr days, from one conjunction of the moon and sun to the
next. In particular, he is interested in the length of the moon’s occultation at
conjunction, and how this compares with the periods of occultation of the
other planets. The final sentence is somewhat confusing, as Bede may not
have fully grasped what Pliny was saying here. Pliny is speaking of the three
higher planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. When they are in conjunction with
the sun at sunset, they will never be more than 11 degrees away at sunrise.
What Bede meant by ‘and indeed they sometimes rise seven degrees from
it’ is impossible to determine, nor can his source be traced. The medieval
glossators appear to have passed over this passage in silence.

It is important to remember that the periods Pliny and Bede are discussing
here are those of the planets’ circuits of the zodiac, which from Bede’s point
of view are their orbits around the earth, not their orbits around the sun. For
the outer planets, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars this makes little practical differ¬
ence, and their zodiacal orbits are good approximations of modern values
for their solar orbits (29.46, 11.86, and 1.88 years, respectively). But for
the inner planets this is not so (the period of Venus’s orbit about the sun is
approximately 225 days, and that of Mercury’s 88 days). Housman, ‘Anth.
Eat. Ries. 678’, p. 33, claims that in Ptolemaic geocentric astronomy the
times of Venus’s and Mercury’s revolutions around the Earth are ‘neces¬
sarily the same as the sun’s, 36514 days, though a single and particular
revolution of either may exceed that time or fall short of it within certain
limits’. But it is difficult to see why their orbits should have been interpreted
as one year (as, according to Housman, was the teaching of Eudoxus) rather
than 348 and 339 days.

ONT, Chapter 14: Their Orbits

This passage from Pliny enunciates the doctrine of eccentric planetary
orbits, with its corollary of variable velocity. In the Carolingian period, it
was not only excerpted in computistical ‘encyclopaedias’, but illustrated
with a diagram showing the apogee and perigee of each planet against the
backdrop of the zodiac.^® That Bede should have included this material,

30 See the numerous studies by Eastwood, most recently Ordering the Heavens, ch. 3, part 4.

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which is not in Isidore, suggests a personal interest in celestial mechanics
for its own sake.

ONT, Chapter 15: Why Their Colours Change

Here again, Bede includes material from Pliny that bespeaks a curiosity
about the planets that transcends the utilitarian needs of a school manual
or adjunct to computus. Bede may have been skating on thin ice here. This
chapter implies that the planets have distinctive characters, and that they
interact with one another. Pliny had no difficulty with this concept, but Bede
may have come to feel that this was not suitable speculation for a Chris¬
tian scholar. In The Reckoning of Time 8, he will return to the theme of
the characters of the planets, but in a different context, namely in connec¬
tion with the Roman names of the weekdays. The tone changes to one of
condemnation: this is ‘the foolishness of the Gentiles, buttressed by faulty
reasoning’

ONT, Chapter 16: The Circle of the Zodiac

The discussion of the zodiac flows naturally from the description of the
planets, since the zodiac is the path along which they travel. It also allows
Bede to tie the discussion of the planets back into the preceding material on
the climates, for the northern and southern boundaries of the zodiac - the
tropics of Cancer and Capricorn - are the boundaries of the habitable zone
of the earth. Once again, however, Bede seems to have been captivated by
the details of planetary astronomy. In this case, it is planetary latitudes, or
the apparent weaving of the planets across the width of the zodiacal belt, a
pattern produced by the fact that the plane of each planet’s orbit is slightly
different from that of the sun, which defines the zodiac. The moon’s orbit,
for example, is tilted at five degrees fo the ecliptic, which is why it is not
eclipsed at every conjunction. In this chapter, as in The Reckoning of Time
26, Bede repeats Pliny’s strange assertion than the sun travels down the
middle of the zodiac with a wavy and serpentine course. On the face of it,
this is absurd: the sun’s course is what defines fhe zodiac. How Bede or
Pliny understood this claim is difficult to say, but Carolingian glossators and
artists dutifully tried to represent the sun as weaving up and down along of
the centre of the ecliptic.

31 The Reckoning of Time, trans. Wallis, p. 34.

32 Eastwood, Ordering the Heavens, ch. 3, section 5.

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148 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

ONT, Chapter 17: The Twelve Signs

This chapter is a careful interweaving of material from Isidore’s Etymolo¬
gies and an anonymous text entitled De causis quibus nomina acceperunt
duodecim signa?^ Its intention seems to be to reduce the meaning of the
zodiac signs as much as possible to naturalistic terms connected with the
weather conditions of the relevant season, or to astronomical phenomena
such as the reversal of the sun’s path in Cancer. Occasionally a reference to
Greek mythology is unavoidable, but the reader is warned in advance that
these are pagan/afeu/ae. When he comes to treat the same subject in The
Reckoning of Time 16, Bede will drop the explanations of the names of the
signs entirely. What is emphasized there is the order of the signs, which
should be memorized in order to calculate the position of the sun or moon.

Bede regarded the zodiac as an arbitrary system of less than fundamental
significance. Here he accepts the 15th kalends of the month as the begin¬
ning of each sign, as he later does in DTR 6. But there, when it comes to
the more critical matter of the vernal equinox, he asserts that by nature the
equinox is the beginning of the zodiacal cycle, and that the vernal equinox
is in the 4th degree of Aries. The zodiac begins on the anniversary of the
first day of creation, but the vernal equinox was created on day four, when
the sun was created.^'*

ONT, Chapter 18: The Milky Way

This extremely short chapter not only reveals once again Bede’s early
curiosity about astronomy, but also the distinctive texture of his critical
spirit. The theory that the Milky Way is illuminated by the sun’s passage
is relayed by Isidore (Etym. 13.5.7 and 3.46). It can also be found in book
18.281 of Pliny’s Natural History, and in Macrobius’s Saturnalia, neither
of which Bede had access to. Bede offers an unprecedented critique of this
theory: how could the Milky Way be kindled by the sun’s transit, when the
ecliptic only intersects the Milky Way in Sagittarius and Gemini? Where
Bede learned this bit of astronomy is uncertain: it is found in Martianus
Capella, an author he seems not to have known, but also shows up in ch. 115
of the Bobbio Liber de computo (PL 129, 1329), so it might have reached
him through an Irish intermediary. In any event, Bede rejects the notion, but
offers no counter-theory. Hence we are left to reflect on what the objection
itself can tell us about Bede’s interests and way of thinking. Bede seems to
be interested in the nature and source of light in the heavens. Not only does

33 Ed. Jones, CCSL 123C, 663-67; also in Jones, BP, pp. 102-3.

34 See Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 275 and 287-90.

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he specify in ch. 11 that the stars borrow their light from the sun, but he
includes an entire chapter (15) on the different colours of the planets, and
how they change. He also shows a marked fascination with the power of
the sun, its ability to control the movement of other planets (ch. 12) and its
fiery nature (ch. 19), which determines the climates of the planets in general
(ch. 13) and the different zones of the earth (ch. 9). He does not seem to
have regarded the Milky Way as a belt of stars, for otherwise he would have
ascribed their light to the sun. It is, rather, a shape (figura) or white circle
{candidum circulum). In sum, Bede did not quite know what to make of the
Milky Way, and did not find the conventional explanations satisfactory. It
was not a topic that he chose to recycle in The Reckoning of Time, for like the
colours of the planets, it was not even distantly relevant to time-reckoning.
Interestingly, the Carolingian glossators simply explained and documented
the theory which Bede rejected.^^

ONT, Chapter 19: The Course and Size of the Sun

Bede’s error concerning the relative sizes of the moon and earth will be
repeated and reinforced in ch. 22 below. The notion that the sun is somehow
nourished on water (derived from Isidore) is retailed without comment.
Presumably it refers to evaporation. In any event, Bede quietly dropped
the idea in favour of focussing on the moon’s control of moisture {The
Reckoning of Time, chs. 28-29).

ONT, Chapter 20: The Nature and Place of the Moon

This chapter contains a number of points which apparently caused Bede’s
readers some confusion, and which he would later clarify in The Reckoning of
Time, chs. 25-26. He paraphrases Pliny to make the following claims. First,
as the day grows longer {die quidem crescente), a new moon (that is, a newly
visible crescent moon) will appear ‘supine’, that is, with its horns pointing
upwards from the horizon, as if it were on top of the sun {utpote superiorem
soli) and lying to the north. When the day grows shorter {decrescente) the moon
will appear upright, with its horns pointing to the side, and to the south. A full
moon is always diametrically opposite the sun, ‘being elevated with respect
to the low sun and low with respect to the elevated sun’. Apparently, Bede’s
readers had problems with two issues: first, Isidore in DNR 38 says that the
shape of the new moon (supine or upright) is an omen of rain or dry weather;
secondly, Bede’s use of the terms superior, sublimis and humilis created a

35 See the Byrhtferth glosses (PL 90, 234-35) and the Laon-Metz glossator (ed. Lipp, in
CCSL 123A, 210).

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150 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

mistaken impression that the moon might actually be physically above the
sun in the heavens, particularly when it appears further to the north of the sun
in the sky - that is, closer to the zenith. Bede tackled the first problem in The
Reckoning of Time 25. His explanation is somewhat compressed, and omits
some astronomical technicalities, but it makes the following point: when the
days begin to get longer than the nights - that is, at the spring equinox - a
crescent moon appearing at sunset will be north of the celestial equator, and
will be lit up from underneath so that its horns point upwards. When the days
begin to grow shorter at the autumn equinox, the crescent moon at sunset will
appear to the south of the celestial equator, and be lit up from the side. What
Bede does not explain is that these variations are caused by that fact that the
ecliptic, along which the sun and moon travel, crosses the celestial equator
twice as it swings to the north and south; consequently, its angle vis-a-vis
the celestial equator changes. The angular relationship between ecliptic and
equator at sunset (when a new crescent moon will become visible) varies
throughout the year, which means that a crescent moon may lie to the north or
south of the equator, and be lit up from underneath or from the side.^* These
changes are absolutely regular, and have nothing to do with the weather.
Indeed, when Bede excerpts Isidore’s DNR 38, for his own ONT 36, he
pointedly omits Isidore’s comments on the shape of the crescent moon. The
second point of confusion - namely, the precise meaning of ‘above’ - will
be clarified in The Reckoning of Time 26, where Bede will explain that the
visible position of the moon to the north or south of the sun is not connected
to its physical location. When he says that the crescent moon at sunset on
the vernal equinox seems to be on top of the sun, what is meant is that the
angle of the ecliptic is such that the moon seems to be almost directly above
the sun in a vertical line; that is why it is lit up from below.

ONT, Chapter 21: Method for Determining the Course of the Moon
through the Signs of the Zodiac

In their descent from the heavens to the earth, Bede’s readers are now finally
standing beneath the moon. At this point, Bede invites them to change their
orientation and look upwards to consider the position of the moon in relation
to the background of the zodiac.

This is perhaps the most difficult chapter of On the Nature of Things for a
modern reader to understand. It contains Bede’s earliest attempt to expound a
mathematical-astronomical formula iargumentum). Bede provides a formula
for finding the sign for a moon of any age - a striking departure from his

36 For a fuller explanation with illustration, see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 301^.

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models, and evidence of the influence of computus. It should be compared to
Reckoning of Time 17, where Bede fills in some of the background explana¬
tion that is lacking in this chapter, re-frames the terms in which the moon’s
advance on the sun is expressed, and alters the divisor from 9 to 10.” This
formula (and its revised version) may have been Bede’s own invention: the
revised version is found in the Bobbio Liber de computo, ch. 110 (PL 129,
1326), and may be derived from The Reckoning of Time.

The problem Bede sets here is to determine through how many signs
of the zodiac the moon will have advanced on any given day after the day
of the new moon (on which day the sun and the moon will have been in
the same sign, which is assumed to be known). The moon advances, Bede
states, through one sign every two days and 6 2/3 hours. That being the case,
through how many signs will it have advanced after, say, 12 days? Obtaining
the answer in a reasonable amount of time is the obstacle to be overcome.
With Arabic numerals and standard methods of long division it can easily
be done. One method would be to divide 12 days by 2 days and 6 2/3 hours.
Converting days to hours, the answer is 288 hours divided by 54 2/3 hours =
5 11/41 signs or 5 signs and 14 2/3 hours. Bede could do this, but, working
with Roman numerals, it would be a tedious task.^*

Alternatively, one can calculate the fraction of a sign that the moon
advances through in one day, and then multiply that fraction by the number
of days of the moon (here, 12). This is possibly what Bede did. The fraction
that the moon advances equals one day (= 24 hours) divided by two days
and 6 2/3 hours (= 54 2/3 hours), that is, 18/41 (not 41/18 as Jones, BOT,
p. 353, erroneously states). 18/41 times 12 = 5 11/41 or 5 signs and 14 2/3
hours, as above. Again, such a fraction (18/41) would be difficult to work
with in Roman numerals, though Bede may have done so in order to come
up with the formula that he offers to his readers.

How Bede constructed his formula remains unknown. We attempt a
hypothetical reconstruction of his approach in Appendix 2. The formula
suggests that Bede had an amazingly agile mathematical mind. We have
already stated that he had to know the correct solution in order to construct
the formula. It appears to be a procedure that is uniquely suited to this
problem. It is simple to apply, requiring no more than a knowledge of how
to multiply and divide by the numbers from one to nine. But the reason why
it works is not transparent and cannot be understood without the ability to

37 See Jones, BOT, p. 353.

38 On the difficulty of performing calculations with Roman numerals, see Wallis, The
Reckoning of Time, pp. 254—63.

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make calculations more complicated than any Bede expected his readers to
he able to perform.^® Wallis’s suggestion that ‘the technique of calculation
was only taught to some advanced and dedicated studentsgoes far to
explain why Bede does not reveal his calculations in this chapter.

The formula in On the Nature of Things differs from the corresponding
one in The Reckoning of Time 17, in two ways. Eirst, it expresses zodiacal
distance in terms of signs and hours, whereas the Reckoning formula uses
signs, puncti, and partes. Secondly, its goal is to find the position of a moon
of any given age in the zodiac itself, whereas the Reckoning formula is
designed to find out the distance along the zodiac which separates a moon
of any given age from the sun. Hence in The Reckoning of Time 17, one
multiplies the age of the moon by 4 (the moon travels 4 puncti away from
or towards the sun per day) and divides by 10 (there are 10 puncti in a
zodiac sign). This formula takes into account the forward movement of the
sun through the zodiac by 1/3 punctus (or one pars) per day. Hence if one
multiplies the age of a full moon of 15 days by 4 (60) and divides by 10,
one will find the full moon exactly opposite the sun in the zodiac, six signs
away. However, that same full moon will have actually advanced along the
zodiac by six and one-half signs from the sign where it first appeared as a
new moon, because the sun, during the fifteen days which have elapsed from
conjunction to full moon, will have simultaneously advanced the distance of
one-half of a zodiac sign.'^'

It is curious that such a formula should be provided in ONT and not in
OT. It was clearly a subject which exercised Bede greatly, since he devotes
considerable space to the issue in The Reckoning of Time (chs. 17-19) and

39 Bede introduces the topic of performing aiithmetical calculations in DTR 1, ‘Calculating
or Speaking with the Fingers’. He does not explain how to multiply with large figures or do
long division.

40 Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 261.

41 The different intentions of the two formulas seem to have derailed some medieval readers.
The Byrhtferth gloss in PL 90, 237-39, refers to this formula as an ‘argumentum inusitatum’
but professes to find it preferable in terms of accuracy. However, Byrhtferth made the mistake
of assuming that The Reckoning of Time formula was to find the position of the moon in the
zodiac, and not to find the relative zodiacal distance separating the moon from the sun.

Why did Bede choose to provide a different formula, and more importantly, a totally
different problem in The Reckoning of Timel We may speculate that the while the relative
calibration of the moon’s phases to the movement of the sun through the tropical year had
evident computistical applications, Bede may have decided that there was no point in knowing
what sign of the zodiac the moon was in per se. Indeed, such knowledge might even smack of
astrological calculation. He certainly steers readers of The Reckoning of Time firmly away from
any interest in tracking the sun’s precise position in the zodiac (cf. The Reckoning of Time 3).

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furnishes no less than three methods of locating the moon in the zodiac,
including a table. And yet it has little or no direct computistical value.
Knowing the age of the moon was definitely important for calculation, and
the related issue of its appearance and phase was significant from the point
of view both of establishing a credible Paschal cycle, and of explaining the
theological significance of the rules for determining Easter. Where the moon
stood in the zodiac was not per se a matter of computistical interest. Where
it might have had relevance was in the medical sphere. In the Ecclesiastical
History, Bede relates the story of how bishop John of Beverly (d. 721) healed
a nun at Watton of a swollen arm consequent on a bloodletting operation;

The abbess asked the bishop to deign to visit her and give her his blessing,
believing that she would greatly improve if he blessed or touched her. Then he
asked when the girl had been bled and, on hearing that it was on the fourth day
of the moon, he exclaimed, ‘You have acted foolishly and ignorantly to bleed
her on the fourth day of the moon; I remember how Archbishop Theodore of
blessed memory used to say that it was very dangerous to bleed a patient when
the moon is waxing and the Ocean tide flowing. And what can I do for the girl
if she is at the point of death?’.

It should be noted that John states that a waxing moon contra-indicates
bloodletting. Neither here nor in ch. 28 of The Reckoning of Time does
Bede state that the position of the moon in the zodiac should be taken into
account. However, schemata linking body parts to the signs of the zodiac,
and accompanied by admonitions concerning bloodletting from that limb
when the moon is in the relevant sign, go back to Antiquity.'^^

ONT, Chapter 22: The Eclipse of the Sun and the Moon

From this new vantage point (see above, p. 150), Bede’s reader can now
observe solar and lunar eclipses (chs. 22-23). One of the purposes of this
chapter - perhaps of the study of computus and the compilation of tables - may
have been precisely to allay anxiety about eclipses.''^'

Bede’s erroneous idea about the size of the moon and earth is picked
up from ch. 19; it is also repeated in DTR 27. The Carolingian glossators,
and notably the BDTR glosses (see Introduction, p. 40) quietly rejected this
notion, but they had the benefit of access to Martianus Capella and Calcidius.
Why did Bede believe this? Quoting Pliny, Bede states that a total eclipse

42 EH 5.3, trans. Colgrave and Mynors, p. 461.

43 The concept goes back to Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos 3.12, 147^8; see Tamsyn Barton,
Ancient Astrology, pp. 189-94; Nutton, Ancient Medicine, p. 266.

44 Cf. BDTR gloss on ch. 22 (PL 90, 412.10-413, end).

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of the sun would not be possible if the moon were not larger than the earth.
The unstated assumption here is that an eclipse of the sun renders the sun
invisible across the whole earth, or at least the hemisphere facing the sun,
as if it were night. This would indeed be the case if the moon were the same
size or larger than the earth, but since it is smaller the eclipse will be visible
only from within the cone of the moon’s shadow. Bede does not appear to
know that the lunar shadow is conical and that solar eclipses are not visible
everywhere on earth; hence he argues that the moon must be larger than the
earth in order to block the sun’s light - by implication, across the whole
planet. Bede’s sources did not help him here. Pliny {NH 2.10.56) mentions
that eclipses are not visible everywhere, but ascribes this to (a) local cloud
cover, or (b) the fact that a lunar eclipse would only be visible in the half
of the planet where it was night-time, and a solar eclipse only where it was
daylight. Isidore (DNR 20-21, Etym. 3.58-59, Letter of Sisebut) does not
mention local visibility at all.

A major flaw in Bede’s argument is that if the moon were larger than the
earth, it would not be totally eclipsed by the shadow of the earth, which must
be conical, since the earth is smaller than the sun. This point is implicitly
addressed by Calcidius in his commentary on the Timaeus, who reports
Hipparchus’s estimate that the earth is 27 times larger than the moon, and
was well known from the Carolingian period onwards.'*^ His argument and
the diagrams illustrating it later found its way, via the eleventh-century
computist Abbo of Eleury, into Noviomagus’s edition of Bede’s The
Reckoning of Time, and thence into Migne’s edition (PL 90, 223).'*^

ONT, Chapter 23: Where there is No Eclipse and Why

This chapter, taken from Pliny, reinforces the impression that Bede did not
know that eclipses were visible only along specific tracks. Pliny imagines
that the only regions which cannot see an eclipse are those where the earth
itself is blocking the view, i.e., where the sun has already set or has not
yet risen. The shadow of the eclipse is equated with the shadow of night
sweeping across the planet.

ONT, Chapter 24: Comets

The changeable moon and the anomalies of eclipses form a suitable transition
to the realm of air, and the zone of unpredictable, albeit natural, atmospheric
phenomena, such as comets and pestilences (chs. 24-37). The chapters on

45 Calcidius, pp. 139-44.

46 For the diagram, see Obrist, La cosmologie medievale, pp. 138-39, and lig. 36.

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the air all stress change, variation and local peculiarity, and in this respect
contrast with the chapters on the celestial phenomena of the zone of fire.
Comets, following ancient philosophers, are regarded as atmospheric events.
Bede’s text highlights their sudden, unpredictable appearance, the highly
variable length of time in which they are visible, their restricted range, and the
unusual events they portend. The reference to portents, drawn from Isidore’s
DNR, is rather unusual in itself, for both Bede and Isidore are concerned to
downplay the idea that natural events are necessarily prophetic signs (see
Introduction, pp. 1-2). Indeed, rainbows, winds, weather and seismological
events were the targets of attempts at rationalization of the natural world from
the pre-Socratic philosophers to Lucretius, Seneca and beyond. Bede for the
most part stands (albeit unconsciously) within this tradition.

ONT, Chapter 25: The Air

Bede’s theme of air as the region of variation and anomaly continues to be
played out here. The atmosphere is not uniform, but varies in limpidity and
luminosity, depending on altitude. Even the boundaries between air and
heaven seem uncertain. The upper atmosphere between the air and the ether
is said to belong to ‘heaven’, but it is not the ‘heaven of heavens’ where the
stars are found, nor yet the quasi-heavens of the lower atmosphere, which
is subject to destruction by flood and fire. The indeterminate nature of the
‘heavens’ had eschatological implications for Bede. In this chapter, he
alludes to 2 Peter 3:6, a passage which exerted a particular fascination for
him. It seemed to him proof, albeit negative proof, that the celestial regions
would not be involved in the destruction and remaking of ‘heaven’ and earth
at the end of the age. The only ‘heaven’ that would be burnt up would be the
quasi-heavens of the air.'*’ He expounded on this idea at considerable length
in his exposition of 2 Peter in the Commentary on the Catholic Epistles,
and in The Reckoning of Time His major source here was Augustine,
The City of God 20.24, but the intensity with which Bede pursued this idea
suggests that it was particularly important for him.

ONT, Chapter 26: The Winds

The agitation of the winds reinforces the theme of instability in the regions
of the air. Isidore’s account of the origin of the winds paints a picture of

47 Bede remarks that the Bible often uses the term ‘heaven’ when it means ‘air’: see On
Genesis 1.1:20, trans. Kendall, p. 85.

48 Ep, Cath. 277.35-48, 279.110-25; trans. Hurst, pp. 147^8, 150-51. See Wallis, The
Reckoning of Time, pp. 370-73.

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156 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

violence and coercion: the winds are pressed together and shot out of
mountain dehles, and their arbitrary movement summons the Biblical image
of God as lord of the winds.

ONT, Chapter 27: The Order of the Winds

The catalogue of the winds not only reinforces the imagery of variety, but
also serves as a bridge to the phenomena Bede will expound in the next
chapters. The winds are connected to snow and hail, thunder, tempests and
earthquakes. So peculiar are the winds that even neighbouring regions or
cities within the same province have distinctive winds.

ONT, Chapter 28: Thunder

The theme of violence that underlies Bede’s description of the winds is
expanded in this chapter on thunder. Winds pent up in clouds produce
thunder by causing the clouds to whirl about chaotically, crashing together
like chariots colliding as they shoot out of the starting gate. By way of
contrast, in his biographical sketch of Chad in EH 4.3, Bede commends as
piety what he might have condemned (in the context of ONT) as supersti¬
tion, namely the fear that any violent storm with thunder and lightning was
a divine communication or warning of the Last Judgement.

ONT, Chapter 30: Where Lightning Is Not and Why

Of all the uncanny phenomena of the atmosphere, lightning is the most
local. Bede draws on Pliny to give a natural explanation of why it occurs in
certain places or certain times. One may suspect an agenda here: to debunk
the notion that lightning strikes are bolts of divine wrath intentionally aimed.

ONT, Chapter 31: The Rainbow

This chapter and the next four are devoted to a group of phenomena that
straddle the frontier between air and water. Rainbows and clouds are located
in the air but formed of water suspended in the air; these aerial waters
precipitate out as rain, hail and snow. In On Genesis Bede likewise remarks
on the close affinity of air and water, and how air, though technically lighter
than water and earth, can nonetheless support watery bodies like clouds and
earthy ones like birds.'**

The guiding purpose of ONT to furnish essentially natural explanations
of phenomena leads Bede to analyse the rainbow without any reference to
the Flood. Isidore’s theory that the rainbow is the reflection of the sun against

49 On Genesis 1.1:20, trans. Kendall, p. 85.

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the black rain-cloud is essentially that of Aristotle’s Meteorology 3.1-5. The
rainbow, according to Aristotle’s fuller account, is caused by the sun’s rays,
reflected from a dark rain-cloud to the eye of the observer. This reflection is
a band of colours because the cloud is made up of numerous small drops, too
small to reflect sun in its entirety, but capable only of reflecting its colours.
However, Aristotle considered the cloud as a single reflecting surface, and did
not investigate the effect of light falling on a single drop. Nor did he provide a
very satisfactory explanation of why the reflection was visible as a bow, or why
only certain colours were produced. One of the most interesting and original
achievements of medieval science was to critique this inadequate model and
to propose an optical-mathematical and physical explanation.

ONT, Chapter 32: Clouds

Using pseudo-Isidore and Isidore, Bede assembles a very credible explana¬
tion of the nature of clouds as condensed water vapour, formed by evapora¬
tion. However, the heat of the sun and the action of the winds are regarded
not so much as the forces responsible for vaporization as the means by
which water from any source is transmuted into sweet rain water. He
invokes an idea which he will revisit in chapter 38, namely that filtering salt
water through soil will make it sweet, just as straining sweet water through
sea-weed will make it salt.

ONT, Chapter 33: Rains

Clouds, being composed of water vapour, are essentially made of tiny drops
of water. Bede imagines these droplets coalescing into larger drops which
the air can no longer hold up (see ch. 8 on the waters above the firmament).

ONT, Chapter 36: Signs of Storms or Fair Weather

The weather signs in this chapter are purely atmospheric - effects of the air
and clouds on the appearance of the sun and moon. Bede passes over the
notion purveyed by Isidore that the shape of the moon is an omen of weather
(see Commentary on ch. 20), though he appreciates the role of the constel¬
lations as markers of the seasons in announcing changes to the weather (see
above, ch. 11).

ONT, Chapter 37: Pestilence

To the modern reader, a chapter on epidemic disease in the midst of a discus¬
sion of meteorology seems anomalous. Until the nineteenth century, however,
this would have seemed quite normal. From the time of Hippocrates’s

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15 8 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

Epidemics and Airs, Waters and Places onwards, westerners were accus¬
tomed to conceiving of an acute disease affecting many people simultane¬
ously and in the same vicinity as the result of ‘infection’. This infection was
not, however, invasion by a subvisible microbe, virus or parasite; it was the
tainting or corruption of the environment - the air in particular, but in conse¬
quence, the water and soil as well. This corruption was due to some kind
of putrefaction or rotting, often visualized as a mist hanging in the air, or a
warm muggy wind. Unseasonable weather could trigger this corruption. As
Bede explains, pestilence is hatched from such corrupted air. Because air is
ingested by all breathing creatures, and also penetrates the food grown in the
soil, many people simultaneously fall ill. But Bede also struggled to incor¬
porate a Biblical view of pestilence as the consequence of sin, something
sent because of human fault. Not every event of this kind is a heavenly sign,
however; sometimes bad weather is just bad weather. Bede’s hesitations and
qualifications are far from unusual; even Gregory of Tours, always on the
alert for indicators of God’s imminent justice, sometimes reported bizarre
weather or outbreaks of pestilence without coming to any conclusion about
the role of God. Gregory’s account of the plague of Marseille in Historiae
9.22 is a case in point. He begins with a straightforward account of the
plague’s arrival by ship in the port and spread through the town. Bishop
Theodore ordered prayers and vigils; the plague eventually burned itself
out, not immediately (which would suggest a miracle) but after a couple of
months ... but then came back again. Gregory offers no comment, which is
his usual way of signalling his inability to read a divine message into any
unusual event.®'’ In his Ecclesiastical History, Bede on the whole prefers to
imply, rather than assert, that a plague is a divine visitation. He hints broadly
that the plague that smites the dissolute Britons is punishment for their sins
(1.14), but does not rub the point in. The saintly Etheldreda prophesies a
coming plague, which implies that it was no merely natural event (4.19).
The plague which carried off the pious and penitent Irish scholar (3.13)
is described in neutral terms, though it might be an illustration of how a
Christian should respond to an outbreak of disease; this is surely also the
case with the accounts of exemplary deaths of plague victims in 4.7-8. The
plague outbreak which killed Cedd (3.23) is reported in a matter-of-fact
way, but the plague which carried off Chad in 672 (4.3) is explicitly a divine
act. Bede rebukes the desperate East Saxons for reverting to paganism in
their search for relief from the plague (3.30), which hints that they failed

50 De Nie, Views from a Many-Windowed Tower, esp. ch. 1.

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God’s trial of their faith; this is made explicit in the parallel account of
how some Northumbrians in the time of Cuthhert apostatized under similar
circumstances (4.27). The plague of 664 which claimed bishop Tuda (3.27)
is not depicted as divine in origin, though the chapter opens with an account
of the solar eclipse of that year. However, while Bede is willing to entertain
the notion that comets are omens {ONT 24), he treats eclipses that take place
under normal astronomical conditions as natural events. In sum, Bede, like
most medieval authors, prefers to leave his options open when it comes
to determining the cause of pestilential disease. Moreover, divine will and
natural processes were not regarded, particularly in the early medieval
period, as mutually exclusive. Bede’s world had no place for what later
theologians would categorize as ‘the supernatural’.^' God’s actions in the
world were detected, rather, by observing the preternatural, particularly the
preternatural acceleration of natural processes.®^

ONT, Chapter 38: On the Dual Nature of the Waters

Chapters 38 through 42 seem to be a series of answers to questions: Which is
natural, fresh water or salt water? What causes the tides? Why does the sea not
overflow with all the water that pours into it? Why is it salt, despite the fact
that fresh waters empty into it? Is the Red Sea really red?

ONT, Chapter 39: The Ocean’s Tide

In this chapter Bede seizes upon disparate observations about the moon
and the tides in Pliny’s Natural History and Pseudo-Isidore’s (Irish) Liber
de ordine creaturarum to sketch an analysis of their relationship that proved
to be more precise and accurate than any previously attempted in western
science. He would expand and in some respects modify this analysis in The
Reckoning of TimeP The key to his achievement was his insight in linking
Pliny’s (somewhat obscurely worded) observation that the moon rises 47*/2
minutes later each day {NH 2.11.58) with his statement in a different context
that peak high tides are correlated with the full moon and that they (whether
Pliny means peak high tides or merely high tides is unclear) recur at the same

51 On the development of this distinction, see Bartlett, The Natural and the Supernatural
in the Middle Ages.

52 Smyth, Understanding the Universe, p. 232. Augustine, Tractatus in lohannem 8.1
(CCSL 36, 81-82) describes the miracle of Cana, and states that what was miraculous was that
the natural process by which the water in grapes becomes wine was spectacularly speeded by
Christ’s divine action. See also The City of God 21.4, 8.

53 On the changes introduced by Bede in his later book, see Eckenrode, ‘The Growth of a
Scientific Mind’, pp. 187-212.

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160 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

moment of the day after a period of a little more than eight years, specifi¬
cally after 100 lunar months (NH 2.99.215). It was Bede’s genius to equate
Pliny’s figure for the retardation of the moonrise with his or his countrymen’s
empirical observations of tidal advances and to recognize that this implied a
periodic cycle of the tides.

When he came to write DTR 29, he seems to have realized that he could
not give mathematical precision to tidal periods in terms of the nineteen-
year lunar cycle even though he knew that the tides followed the moon, and
he may have felt it prudent not to calculate a tidal cycle on the basis of a
48-minute advance (the figure that he gives in DTR). Eor some reflections
on Bede’s thinking in this chapter of ONT, see Appendix 2.

ONT, Chapter 41: Why It Is Bitter

Bede is entirely correct that the surface water of the seas is fresher than the
depths, but his source, Pliny, actually says the opposite, namely that deeper
waters are sweeter than surface waters (Pliny, NH 2.103.222).

ONT, Chapter 43: The Nile

This chapter points to the roots of ONT, through Isidore, in ancient school
cosmographies. The remarkable annual flooding of the Nile, to say nothing
of the mystery of its origins, was a classic locus of scientific curiosity.
Seneca devotes all of book 4a of the Natural Questions to this topic, but
Bede’s principal source, Isidore, seems to have used Lucretius, DRNb.l\b,
721-23.

ONT, Chapter 44: That the Earth Is Bound by Waters

This is one of Bede’s characteristic bridging chapters, in which, quite liter¬
ally, the realms of water and that of earth intersect. Pliny’s language is
vivid, even emotional. Earth and water embrace to their mutual advantage,
for earth would not hold together were it not moistened, and water would
have no place were it not contained by the earth.^"^ Not only does water
girdle the earth’s surface, but it penetrates to its interior, and breaks out
from its summits.^^ Somewhat uncharacteristically, Bede adds a reference
to the Creator in the opening sentence. This may be a devout response to
Pliny’s rapturous language, but it may also be Bede’s way of neutralizing

54 A somewhat similar reflection on the interdependence of eaith and water is found in
Bede’s On Genesis 1.1:24, trans. Kendall, p. 88.

55 Bede discusses the interpenetration of land and water in connection with the separation
of earth and sea on the third day of creation in On Genesis 1.1:9, trans. Kendall, p. 78.

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the implication that the earth is a living being, perhaps a divinity. The issue
was a very real one for Bede. In chapter 2 of The Reckoning of Time, in the
midst of discussing the distinction between conventional and natural ways
of dividing time, he feels obliged to point out that ‘[T]his Nature was created
by the one true God when He commanded that the stars which He had set
in the heavens should be the signs of seasons, days and years; it is not, as
the folly of the pagans asserts, a creating goddess, one amongst many’

ONT, Chapter 45: The Position of the Earth

When he turns to the earth itself, Bede refocuses his reader’s attention on
the fundamental architecture of his book: the four elements and their vertical
arrangement. Earth is at the ‘centre or pivot of the world’ (ch. 45), because
the element of earth seeks the lowest point; earthquakes and volcanoes are
caused by air trapped within the earth and struggling to escape to its natural
place (chs. 49-50). The sphericity of the earth can be demonstrated by the fact
that different constellations are visible in different locations (ch. 46), and by
the variations in sundial shadows and length of daylight with latitude (ch. 47).

ONT, Chapter 46: That the Earth Is Like a Glohe

Bede has the distinction of being one of the earliest Christian-Latin authors
to state emphatically and unambiguously that the earth is spherical. Indeed,
in The Reckoning of Time 32, he will spell out this fact even more explic¬
itly: ‘It is not merely circular like a shield [or] spread out like a wheel, but
resembles more a ball, being equally round in all directions’ Most patristic
writers, especially Latin writers, accepted the ancient scientific picture of a
spherical earth without comment. But some, notably the Greek cosmogra-
pher Cosmas Indicopleustes, vigorously asserted the Biblical picture of the
world as a flat rectangle of land poised over an abyss of water and crowned
with a tent-like sky.®* This theory may have been known in Bede’s England,
perhaps through texts brought by archbishop Theodore of Canterbury.^^ If
it was, it may have been rather difficult to refute. Augustine acknowledged

56 Trans. Wallis, p. 14. For discussion of this remai'kable passage, see Wallis, 'Si Naturam
Quaeras: Reframing Bede’s “Science”’, esp. pp. 80-82.

57 Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 91.

58 On the patristic reception of classical views of the sphericity of the earth and Cosmas’s
counter-theory, see Inglebert, Interpretatio Christiana, ch. 1.

59 On the knowledge of Cosmas Indicopleustes in Anglo-Saxon England, see Bischoff
and Lapidge, Biblical Commentaries from the Canterbury School of Theodore and Hadrian,
pp. 208-11; and cf. Neville, Representations of the Natural World in Old English Poetry, pp.
146^7.

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162 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

that the sphericity of the earth was the general opinion of scientists and
philosophers, but treats it as a hypothesis rather than an undisputed fact, and
certainly not grounds for believing in the Antipodes.® The seventh-century
Irish authors were even more ambivalent,'’' Hence Bede’s rather forceful
defence of the spherical earth may have been a response to real doubt and
disbelief.

ONT, Chapter 47: The Circles of the Earth

These circles of latitude or climata are different from the circles described in
ch. 9, which are on the celestial sphere, projected onto the earth, and which
mark a celestial phenomenon, namely the passage of the sun around the
inclined track of the ecliptic. These lines, however, represent a purely terres¬
trial phenomenon: the variation in the length of the day due to latitude, and
the relative length of the shadow cast by the pin of a sundial. At many points
in his writings on computus, natural science and Biblical exegesis, Bede
likes to stress the distinction between the regular and uniform character of
the heavens and the variations and particularities of terrestrial life. Varia¬
tions in daylight with latitude is almost an obsession with him; he mentions
it above in ch. 10, and even remarks in the opening chapter of the Eccle¬
siastical History on the length of the days in Britain. This fixation may
have something to do with Bede’s environment in northern England, where
the extremes of summer light and winter darkness are so pronounced. But
it is also a ‘vocational’ issue for monks, who were obliged constantly to
adjust their schedules of communal prayer, particularly the night hours, to
the changing lengths of day and night.'’^ This chapter and the one which
follows will be reproduced and expanded upon in The Reckoning of Time,
chs. 31-33.

ONT, Chapter 48: More on the Same Subject: the Art of Using Sundials

This chapter is in a sense an appendix to the previous one. In it, Bede
exploits a different section of Pliny’s Natural History to illustrate some
extreme cases of sundial shadows. The Mediterranean focus is evident, in
that the northernmost point of reference is Ancona. But the issue is really the
extreme south of the known world. Five thousand stades south of Alexan¬
dria, no shadow is cast at the summer solstice, which would put this site
on the tropic of Cancer; but in the country of the Troglodytes, the shadows

60 See The City of God 16.9; cf. Inglebert, Interpretatio Christiana, p. 90.

61 Smyth, Understanding the Universe, pp. 271—78, 285 sqq.

62 For an illuminating discussion, see McCluskey, Astronomies and Cultures, ch. 6.

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actually fall to the north of the gnomon, which means that this land is south
of the tropic. Bede does not pick up on an important point here, namely that
the land of the Troglodytes must therefore be within the uninhabitably torrid
equatorial zone of the earth (see ch. 9).

ONT, Chapter 49: Earthquake

This and the following chapter seem, once again, to be responses to implicit
questions. If the earth is the unmoved centre of the universe, why is it
shaken by earthquakes? The response is framed in terms of the theory of
the elements. Air ‘unnaturally’ pent within the earth struggles for release,
causing violent shaking. The explanation of the volcanic activity of Mount
Etna is an extension of these observations.

ONT, Chapter 50: The Fire of Mount Etna

Like earthquakes, volcanic activity was a favourite locus of ancient scientific
and philosophical arguments that sought to provide physical explanations
for apparently random and certainly terrifying phenomena. Mount Etna in
Sicily has the distinction of being the subject of a poem in this vein, possibly
(though not certainly) by Seneca’s friend Lucilius.® Isidore, Bede’s principal
source of information, draws his lore from Pomponius Trogus, but the expla¬
nation is the classic one: wind moving at high pressure through underground
channels. The reference to the ‘dogs of Scylla’ is a rare instance of Bede’s
retention of some of Isidore’s material on classical mythology.

ONT, Chapter 51: The Division of the Earth

The reversion to the division of the earth’s land masses after Mount Etna
may seem anomalous, but Bede is following Isidore in this. Pliny also uses
such a chapter to bridge the cosmology of Book 2 to the cosmography which
follows. As Isidore did not use Pliny elsewhere in his De natura rerum,
Fontaine considers this chapter a later addition, dating from the time of the
composition of the Etymologies.^

In this chapter, Bede offers a concise description in two paragraphs of
the geography of the world. The first paragraph, with the exception of the
phrases, ‘girded by the Ocean’ and ‘[Asia] is comparable in size to the other
two’, is taken entirely from Pliny; it owes nothing verbally to Isidore.

Bede borrows his second paragraph from Isidore (with the changes we
have indicated in the note). Isidore had it from Augustine.

63 Taub, Aetna and the Moon, pp. 45-55.

64 Fontaine, Traite, pp. 41—42.

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The two details that Bede added to the first paragraph are crucial. They
help make this chapter the nearest approach in words to what we know as
the medieval T-O map - nearer than the corresponding descriptions in Pliny,
Augustine, or Isidore. However, the development of the T-0 map is gener¬
ally attributed to Isidore and Isidore’s forebears, and there has not been
much discussion of its history that links it to Bede.®^ The earliest surviving
T-0 map appears to be the one that is found on the last folio (f. 24'') of a
seventh-century manuscript of Isidore’s De Natura Rerum. This manuscript,
Escorial, Real Biblioteca R.II.18, ff. 9'-24'', dated 636 X 686, is the oldest
exemplar of Isidore’s work.®'’ However, f. 24” is in a different hand from
that of the earlier folios and in the judgement of Jacques Fontaine ‘semble
legerement posterieur au premier’ There are, in fact, two T-0 diagrams,
side by side, on the bottom margin of this folio. They are conveniently
reproduced by G. Menendez-Pidal.®* The diagram on the left appears to
be the original; the one on the right a later copy.®® Both diagrams show a
compass-drawn circle bisected by a horizontal line. The lower half of the
circle in turn is bisected by a vertical radius. The horizontal diameter and
vertical radius together comprise the ‘T’ which is inscribed within the ‘O’
of the T-O format. The word ASIA appears in the upper half circle; the word
EVROPA in the lower left quadrant; and the word AFRICA in the lower
right quadrant. A faint larger circle encloses the diagram on the left, but not
the one on the right.

The phrase ‘girded by the Ocean’ corresponds to the outer circle of the
left-hand T-0 map. The statement, that 'Asia is comparable in size to the
other two’, contradicts Pliny, who assigns this magnitude to Europe.®® Bede
could have taken the assertion, though not the wording, from Augustine or
Isidore.®' In any case, as Kendall wrote in the Introduction to Bede’s On
Genesis: ‘If Bede visualized the earth as a globe with a particular orienta¬
tion in space, it seems likely that he would have located the three continents
known to him - Europe, Africa, and Asia - on the “top” of the globe. These
would constitute “the upper part of the world,” roughly in the form of a

65 But see Destombes, Mappemondes AD 1200-1500, pp. 35-36; Eckenrode, ‘Venerable
Bede as a Scientist’, p. 498; Harley and Woodward, The History of Cartography, vol. 1, pp.
302-3; Edson, ‘World Maps and Easter Tables’, pp. 26-30.

66 Fontaine, Trade, pp. 20-22.

67 Fontaine, Trade, p. 21.

68 Menendez-Pidal, ‘Mozarabes y Asturianos’, plate 2.

69 Menendez-Pidal, ‘Mozarabes y Asturianos’, p. 168.

70 NH 3.1.5. Pliny’s view can be traced to Herodotus, The Histories 4.45.

71 DCD 16.17. Isidore copies Augustine, DNR 48.3; Etym. 14.2.3.

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circle of lands, surrounded by the world ocean. ... Thus, if we imagine the
Mediterranean as the vertical stroke of a capital T and the Don and the Nile
as together forming the horizontal stroke, west would be at the bottom, east
at the top, north on the left, and south on the right of our imaginary projec¬
tion, with Europe in the lower left quadrant, Africa in the lower right, and
Asia in the upper two quadrants of the circle of lands. These comprise the
habitable regions of the north temperate zone - “the upper part of the world.”
Projected on a flat surface, Bede’s description of the circle of lands in On the
Nature of Things would correspond precisely to the schematic T-0 maps of
the later Middle Ages ...’. See Introduction, pp. 10-12.

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COMMENTARY:
ON TIMES (OT)

OT, Chapter 1: Moments and Hours

Following the model of earlier didactic treatments of time, notably Isidore’s
DNR and the Irish dialogues, Bede arranges On Times according to the units
of time, in ascending order of magnitude. However, he carefully restricts
himself to those units which are actually used in computistical calculation.
He may have been criticized for this, because in chapter 3 of The Reckoning
of Time he explains terms for even smaller units, namely ostensa and atoms.
However, he associates these with the specious calculations of astrologers,
and by implication dismisses them from computus. It is important to bear
in mind that Bede’s minutum is not the modern ‘minute’; indeed, he never
thinks of the hour as divided into 60 parts. For our purposes, though, it might
be helpful to remember that a punctus is 15 minutes, a minutum 6 minutes,
and a momentum IV 2 minutes.

This chapter illustrates two of Bede’s principal preoccupations concern¬
ing time. The first is the relationship between natural time - time as God
created it, marked out by the movements of the heavens - and the conven¬
tions of human time.' Chapter 2 will provide a concrete illustration of this
distinction. The second is the notion of time-reckoning as a process of
setting bounds, and hence bestowing order upon the ‘fleeting and wavetossed
course of time’ (The Reckoning of Time 71). The motion of the stars which
is the etymological root of the term momentum is the ‘outermost boundary’
that distinguishes one instant of time from the next; the etymology of hora
is also linked to edges and boundaries. This theme will be picked up again
in chapter 3.

OT, Chapter 2: The Day

In this chapter Bede highlights the difference between the natural and
universal day of 24 hours, and the conflicting meanings of the word ‘day’
in diverse human cultures. However, divinely created nature and particular

1 This is discussed in detail in Wallis, 'Si Naturam Quaeras: Reframing Bede’s “Science”’,
esp. pp. 78-90.

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historic experience converge in the sacred time of God’s chosen people,
confirmed and fulfilled in the Gospel. Bede’s claim that Moses reckoned
the day from morning to morning may seem odd, given the Jewish practice
of beginning the day at sundown. What he seems to have in mind is the
description of the days of Creation in the opening chapter of Genesis: ‘and
there was evening and morning: one day (factumque est vespere et mane dies
unus\ Gen. 1:5)’ - a locution he interprets to mean that the whole period
from the beginning of Day One to the dawn of Day Two was the first day.^
He then compares this to the account of the Resurrection, which takes place
(as he sees it) at dawn, that is, on the cusp of the Sabbath and the first day
of the week. The imagery of light is profoundly important in Bede’s overall
view of the symbolism of the timing of Easter (see ch. 15 below), but the
association of the Resurrection with the frontier between the seventh day
and the first day will only be fully expounded in the closing chapter of
The Reckoning of Time, where Easter symbolizes the transition between the
temporal world and the new creation of the world to come.^

OT, Chapter 3: The Night

The theme of boundaries and order enunciated in chapter 1 returns here.
Night seems to be an unchartable time of formless darkness. The moon does
not consistently illuminate the night as the sun does the day, so its light does
not ‘make’ the night; monks told time at night by the stars, but these could
be blotted out by clouds. Hence night-time is ordered by less determinate
signs like ‘the uncertain light between light and darkness’ or the ‘first faint
light of day’. Night is defined as absence and immobility, so it is all the
more interesting that Bede, following Isidore, should have set out to impose
order and shape on the night in the form of precisely defined periods. Bede
adds an original comment: humans, it seems, are workaholics and need to
be forcibly brought to a halt by darkness, lest they perish in their obsessive
exertions.

Since computists deal only in natural 24-hour days, one may wonder
why Bede devoted a chapter to the night, which is not, properly speaking, a
unit of time. The more elaborate treatment of this theme in The Reckoning of
Time 7, may hold the clue. Here Bede dilates on how night is but the shadow
of the earth, and its darkness a kind of local optical illusion; the heavens, in
fact, are always lit up by the splendour of the sun. He pins this discussion
to a quotation from Song of Songs 2:16-17: ‘until the day breaks and the

2 See Bede, On Genesis 1.1:5b (ed. Jones, pp. 9-10; trans. Kendall, p. 75).

3 The Reckoning of Time 71, trans. Wallis, pp. 246-4^9; cf. Wallis, pp. 373-75.

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168 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

shadows give way’ ^ We may infer, then, that Bede is continuing to reflect on
the symbolism of Easter as the moment when temporal and earthly darkness
is swept away by the true and everlasting light.

or, Chapter 4: The Week

This chapter on the week will be considerably expanded in The Reckoning
of Time 8, and supplemented by an additional chapter on the ‘prophetic
weeks’ of Daniel 9:24. Moreover, the symbolism of the week underpins the
interpretation of the relationship of the Six World-Ages to the Seventh and
Eighth Ages which Bede will borrow from Augustine. In On Times, however,
Bede sticks to computistical basics: he does not even mention the week of
creation. On the other hand, given that the Church officially referred to the
weekdays by number, a usage attributed to Pope Sylvester, it is interesting
that Bede quotes Isidore’s astrological explanation of the Roman planetary
weekdays. In The Reckoning of Time, perhaps in response to his readers’
puzzlement or alarm, he will qualify this by some scientific rationalizations:
the moon does not really create bodies, but it controls humidity on earth and
so is associated with the growth of bodies, etc. Evidently the planets and the
pagan gods, Roman or Germanic, continued to provide the names for the
weekdays that people used in everyday speech, and thus these names had to
be addressed and explained.

OT, Chapter 5: The Month

This chapter, like the chapter on the day, contrasts the authority of God’s
‘natural’ time with the arbitrary diversity of human time-reckoning conven¬
tions. The month is properly the lunar synodic month, that is, the period
from one new moon to the next. As Bede observes, it is ‘a little more than
29'/2 days’ long: the ‘little more’ is a crucial qualification, which will be
explained in ch. 12, ‘On the Leap of the Moon’. The task of the computist is
to align the phenomena of the heavens with a calendar, and calendars work
only with whole days. For this reason, the 29V2-day lunar month is regular¬
ized into alternating ‘full’ and ‘hollow’ months of 30 and 29 days respec¬
tively. A solar month, on the other hand, is a sidereal month: it is one-twelfth
of the time required for the sun to complete a circuit of the ecliptic. Bede
declares that this solar month is 22 hours longer than the lunar month, but
does not explain in detail why. The reason is as follows. The sun’s annual
circuit requires 365 days (the 14-day leap year increment can be ignored for
present purposes). Multiplied by 24 this yields 8760 hours; when these are

4 The Reckoning of Time 7, trans. Wallis, p. 29.

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divided by 12, the result is 730 hours per solar month. The lunar month of
29*/2 days is 708 hours, or 22 hours less. These 22 hours, multiplied by 12
months, total 264 hours or 11 days. These are the lunar ‘epacts’ - that is, the
number of intercalary days needed to reconcile 12 lunar months (354 days)
with the solar year (365 days). Bede’s students evidently craved this expla¬
nation - and wanted to know as well what happened to the hi-day increment:
hence the more circumstantial account in The Reckoning of Time 11.

The Hebrews exemplify a calendar based on lunar months; the Egyptians
‘demarcate the months according to the course of the sun’. Bede seems to
favour the solar calendar as inherently more reliable.

OT, Chapter 6: The Months of the Romans

In The Reckoning of Time, chs. 11-15, Bede presents a lavish antiquarian
survey of the names of the months in ancient Israel, Egypt, Macedonia and
Rome, culminating in an invaluable discussion of the pagan Anglo-Saxon
months. In On Times, he confines himself to computistical essentials, and
discusses only the Roman months, the ones his students will encounter in
the Church’s calendar. The Roman system of dating hy reverse count from
the marker dates of kalends, nones and ides also required some introduc¬
tion, though here again, Bede only furnishes a basic historical-etymological
explanation of the terms.

OT, Chapter 7: Solstice and Equinox

The next unit up from the month is the year, but Bede mediates the leap in
this and the following chapter by discussing two ways in which the circle
of the year is articulated: hrst, by the four turning-points in the sun’s trajec¬
tory around the ecliptic, namely the solstices and equinoxes; and secondly,
by the earthly consequences of this turning, namely the four seasons. Given
that On Times is a textbook based on the Alexandrian computus, as adapted
for the West by Dionysius Exiguus, and that the Alexandrian reckoning
of Easter vociferously promotes 21 March as the astronomical date of the
vernal equinox, it is curious that Bede presents Isidore’s obsolete Roman
dates for the solstices and equinoxes (25 December, 25 March, 24 June and
24 September) without comment. He will correct himself in ch. 10 of On
Times, and at much greater length in ch. 30 of The Reckoning of Time.

Erom a computistical perspective, the date of the vernal equinox is the
only matter of significance, but it is worth pausing to consider why Bede
even mentioned the old Roman dates. Comparing this chapter with The
Reckoning of Time suggests that Bede is trying to absorb authoritative infor-

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170 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

mation from Isidore, Pliny and others about how the sun’s circuit affects
time on earth. Unfortunately, both authors accept the old Roman dates, not
the revised Alexandrian ones. Bede even quotes Pliny’s statement that the
equinox occurs in the 8 th degree of Aries; in ch. 6 of The Reckoning of Time
he will present a complex argument to the effect that the equinox must be
in the 4th degree of Aries, because the sun was created on the fourth day of
creation.^ Each sign of the zodiac marked off, spatially, 30° of the ecliptic
(360° divided by 12 = 30°) and, temporally, one notional month (365.25
days divided by 12 = 30.4375 days) of the year. The signs were related to
the solar year by the rising and setting of the constellations for which they
were named. Thus, taking Aries for illustration, Bede’s statement means,
theoretically, that 8/30 of the sign of Aries was above the horizon at sunrise
on 25 March, and that the same 8/30 was below the horizon at sunset (practi¬
cally speaking, it would be the only zodiacal constellation not visible at any
period of the night at that time of year).

It seems doubtful that Bede and his students would have any means
of directly measuring 8° of Aries; since each sign = 30° and 30 h- days and
therefore 1 ° = approximately one day, the conclusion he would expect them
to draw from the statement, we think, is that on the vernal equinox Aries was
in its eighth day (i.e., the sun entered Aries on 18 March).® (N.B., because of
the precession of the equinoxes the constellations are no longer in the signs
of the zodiac to which they gave their names.) At the time Bede was writing,
the vernal equinox, in fact, had moved forward to 17 March.’

Bede closes the first part of this chapter by remarking that the equinoc¬
tial days are of the same length the whole world over, regardless of latitude.
The second part of this chapter is a lengthy quotation from Pliny explaining
how the solstitial days - notably those of the summer solstice - vary in
length with latitude. This quotation will be considerably expanded in The
Reckoning of Time 31. The section on the island of Britain was obviously of
particular interest to Bede and his readers - indeed, it will be paraphrased in
the opening chapter of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. It is therefore curious
that he should have copied Pliny’s rather confused statements about Thule’s
six months of continuous day followed by six months of continuous night
without qualihcation or comment. Pliny is writing about two separate, but
related, concepts - the Arctic Circle, where the day is 24 hours long on the
summer solstice, and the North Pole, where the sun is above the horizon

5 Trans. Wallis, pp. 24-28; see also Wallis, p. 28, n. 48.

6 See DTR 16, and Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, Appendix 1.

7 See Jones, SOr, pp. 126—27.

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for half the year. Bede makes the distinction between the two clearer in The
Reckoning of Time 31, but even there it is not certain whether he had thought
through all the implications of the distinction. He repeats Pliny’s uncertainty
as to whether the longest day on Thule was 24 hours or six months (some
authorities asserting the latter). The question is, whether in Bede’s mind the
uncertainty had to do with Thule’s latitude (could it have been as far north
as the North Pole?), or with the proposition that the day might be six months
long everywhere north of the Arctic Circle. Given the usual precision of
Bede’s thinking on astronomical topics, the former seems likely, but we
cannot be sure. In On the Nature of Things 9, and The Reckoning of Time

34, he speaks of a frozen sea lying one day’s sail north of Thule.

OT, Chapter 8: The Seasons

Eor those who dwell on earth, the principal consequence of the sun’s annual
journey to the northern sky and then back down to the south, other than
variations of daylight, is the alternation of the seasons. The statement that
the sun ‘abides for a longer period of time’ in winter is somewhat obscure.
What Bede appears to mean is that by the calculation of ‘the ancients’ winter
has 92 days, spring 91, summer 90 and autumn 92. Therefore winter (along
with autumn) is a longer season than spring or summer. Bede alludes to
this point again in The Reckoning of Time 30, where he quotes the pseudo-
Hippocratic Letter to Antigonus to the effect that winter is the longest season
(97 days in this case).® In On Times, Bede merely reports that the ancients
held that the seasons straddled the solstices and equinoxes. He does not
explicitly endorse this scheme, and evidently some of his students wanted
him to declare his own views on the subject. In The Reckoning of Time

35, he elaborates on different proposals for dating the seasons, and even
cites Anatolius of Laodicea in support of the ‘straddle’ model. However,
he follows this with a warning that Deuteronomy 16:1 specifies that the
month in which Passover is celebrated is the first month of spring. Thus
Bede continues to evade the issue of when the seasons actually begin. Was
he unsure on this subject? Did he think the question pointless or a matter of
custom, like the beginning of the day in different cultures? Did he wish to
remove computus from such questions, perhaps because they were redolent
of pagan seasonal celebrations?

The closing paragraph of this chapter is a passage from Isidore’s Etymol¬
ogies explaining the correspondences between the seasons and the cardinal
directions. Bede does not use Isidore’s DNR 7, here, which extends the

8 Trans. Wallis, pp. 86-87.

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172 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

metaphor to encompass the humours of the hody and the ages of man. This
is all the more interesting in that he does explore those dimensions in The
Reckoning of Time 35. This is perhaps a good index of how On Times sticks
close to computistical basics, while The Reckoning of Time takes a more
encyclopaedic approach. Moreover, Bede’s interest in medicine seems to
have increased with time.

OT, Chapter 9: Years

As is evident hy now, the chapters of On Times are carefully linked, and
the whole treatise is structured around leitmotifs. In the hrst paragraph of
this chapter, Bede returns to the motif of the variable calendar conventions
of different human societies, and uses these to bridge the solstices and
equinoxes to the discussion of the year. Like the month, the year comes in
both a solar and a lunar form. The solar year is tacitly presented as stable
and invariable (see the remarks on the Egyptian year above), while the lunar
year is variable: either ‘common’ (12 months, or 354 days) or ‘embolismic’
(13 months, 384 days). Plainly this was far too concise for Bede’s readers;
The Reckoning of Time 45 provides a greatly expanded explanation. On the
other hand, the Great Year will be swallowed up into a chapter tellingly
entitled ‘Natural Years’ (The Reckoning of Time 36). Josephus’s estimate
is anomalously low compared to the immensely long Great Years of the
ancient philosophers. Whether Bede knew of these speculations is uncertain,
but he may have preferred a lower estimate because it was compatible with
Biblical chronology.®

OT, Chapter 10: The Leap-Year Day

This chapter closes the section of On Times devoted to the solar calendar
by discussing its most significant computational anomaly, namely the inser¬
tion of the leap-year day. Ever conscious of the parallels and patterns in his
textbook, Bede will open the section on the Paschal Table which follows by
examining its cognate anomaly, the ‘leap of the moon’.

The explanation seems quite straightforward, but actually provides us
with a useful lesson in how Bede visualized the relationship of the heavenly

9 Bede might have been acquainted with Augustine’s critique {The City of God 12.12-14) of
the ancient concept of the Great Year, particularly its allegedly cyclical character and immense
length: see de Callatay, Annus Platonicus, pp. 95-96. It is very unlikely that he knew of the
arguments of the Greek Fathers Clement of Alexandria and Origen, or of the discussion by
Cicero, Censorinus, Macrobius, etc. Pliny’s estimate of the length of the Great Year in NH
10.4-5 is even shorter than Josephus’s: five hundred and forty years (coinciding with the life¬
span of the phoenix).

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bodies to the calendar - his distinctive spatial imagination of time.'® The
quarter-day excess of the true solar year over its calculated length of 365
days means that the sun on the first year after the leap year will cross the
ecliptic at the vernal equinox not at dawn, but a quarter-day (six hours) later.
One could say that the sun has run ahead of the calendar by six hours. But
Bede sees it the other way around: the sun is Tagging behind’, meaning that
it is not arriving at the ecliptic ‘on time’. Instead of imaging the calendar
catching up to the sun by adding one day to the count of days over four
years, he seems to be imaging the calendar ‘marking time’ for 24 hours to
let the sun catch up. This may be a function of the different ways in which
one inserts the leap-year day. We add a day at the end of Eebruary, and hence
implicitly imagine the calendar advancing further; but Bede, following
Roman custom, made the calendar ‘stop ’ by counting the 6th kalends of
March twice. Where we add a day, Bede loses one.

Though the issue of Bede’s use of instrumentation to verify the true astro¬
nomical date of the vernal equinox has generated some controversy, there
is no doubt that his invitation to his readers to observe the sun’s ‘lagging’
at the vernal equinox was meant to be taken seriously. He was probably
familiar with the ancient folk-surveying technique of constructing a horolo¬
gium (actually, a compass) on the ground (see above, p. 143), because he
mentions it in The Reckoning of Time 38 (horologiis lineis in terra)}^

OT, Chapter 11: The Nineteen-year Cycle

Chapter 11 marks a watershed in On Times, where Bede’s attention moves
from one computistical reference document - the solar calendar - to another,
the Paschal Table. The structural basis of the Paschal Table is the nineteen-
year lunisolar cycle discussed in the Introduction, pp. 23-25. Prom Bede’s
perspective, the only interest of the nineteen-year cycle lies in its capacity
to identify and predict the full moon on which the date of Easter depends.
‘Predict’ is the active verb here, because the date of Easter had to be known
well in advance, as several months of pre-Paschal observances had to be
scheduled.

Bede is imagining that his reader is actually looking at a Dionysian
Paschal table, where the nineteen years are usually divided into two sections:
the ogdoas of eight years, and the hendecas of eleven years. These are relics
of older cycles, notably the octoaeteris where three embolisms are inserted

10 This is discussed in greater detail in Wallis, ‘Caedmon’s Created World and the Monastic
Encyclopedia’.

11 DTR, ed. Jones, p. 401; The Reckoning of Time, trans. Wallis, p. 107.

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over eight years, and the eleven-year cycle with four emholisms. The eight-
year cycle is too long by about two days to be truly cyclic; the eleven-
year cycle falls short by almost the same amount. Hence early computists
conceived of the nineteen-year cycle as an eight-year cycle and an eleven-
year cycle compensating for one another. They almost do - but the ‘leap
of the moon’ is required to bring them fully into alignment at the end of
nineteen years.

Bede provides a much fuller explanation in The Reckoning of Time 46.
The final paragraph in this chapter shows why this was necessary. Some
people thought that the nineteen-year cycle really was a full eight-year cycle
followed by a full eleven-year cycle, and that the two-day shortfall in the
eight-year cycle would be supplied by the two leap-year days accumulated
over the eight years. In The Reckoning of Time 41, Bede explains that leap-
year day is only a ‘non-day’ within the artihcial framework of the calendar.
In the real world, the bissextile day is a real day, and so it counts as a day for
both the sun and the moon. It therefore cannot be used to bring the moon into
alignment with the sun. The ogdoad and hendecad are not self-contained
cycles, but complementary parts of a single nineteen-year cycle.

OT, Chapter 12: The ‘Leap of the Moon’

For modern English speakers, the ‘leap of the moon’ {saltus lunae) might
sound like the lunar equivalent of leap-year day. In fact, it is the inversion
of the leap-year day phenomenon. As Bede puts it, while the sun ‘lags’
with respect to the calendar, the moon ‘advances’. From one year to the
next, the same phase of the moon in the same lunar month will appear a
little earlier: Bede calculates the advance at one hour, IOV 2 momenta (15%
modern minutes), plus 1/19 of one-half of a momentum. In The Reckoning
of Time 42, he will substitute punch for momenta, perhaps for greater ease
of calculation. The advance there is expressed as one hour, one punctus (15
minutes) and 1/19 of a punctus. Either formula, when multiplied by 19,
produces exactly one 24-hour day. Thus the moon is (in theory) one day
older than its calculated age at the end of the 19-year cycle. The lunar count
is adjusted to reality by ‘leaping over’ a day: the epact or age of the moon
on 22 March in the year 1 of the cycle should be 29, but it is counted as 30,
i.e., a new moon, the equivalent of zero.

Bede obviously based his calculation of the saltus increment on the
theoretical proposition that the lunar cycle was retarded by exactly one day
in nineteen years rather than on any precise observation of the actual retar¬
dation. Indeed, had he checked the theory with physical observations, he

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would have realized that something was not quite right. In The Reckoning of
Time 43, he more or less admits this, trying to rationalize why the calculated
moon and the visible moon do not always agree. The saltus increment for
the nineteen-year cycle is in fact in error by about IV 2 hours; in Bede’s day,
the slippage was noticeable - about IV 2 days. It was precisely this slippage
that resulted in the mis-dating of the eclipse of May 664 (see note 308 on
chapter 22).

OT, Chapter 13: The Contents of the Paschal Cycle

Chapter 13 is a commentary on the Paschal Table itself. The Dionysian
table was arranged in eight columns, each with a heading or titulus. Diony¬
sius furnished formulas (argumenta) for obtaining the data recorded under
each titulus. These argumenta titulorum are laid out in ch. 14. In The
Reckoning of Time, Bede will greatly extend this material, furnishing a
chapter for each titulus of the table, following it with a chapter explaining
the argumentum.

The Table lists from left to right the years of the Incarnation, the indic¬
tions, lunar epacts, solar concurrents, year of the lunar cycle, date of the 14th
moon of the Paschal month, the date of Easter, and the age of the moon on
Easter Sunday. Curiously, Bede does not dilate on the religious or historical
significance of annus domini reckoning: indeed in The Reckoning of Time
46, he will reveal his scepticism about the historical foundation of Diony¬
sius’s chronology. On Times sticks to what is computistically significant
about the era, namely, that is open-ended or prospective. As Bede says, the
number of the years increases by one with each passing year. This means
that one year can be distinguished from the next by a number (as distinct
from, say, a consular or regnal name), and a number which can be projected
indefinitely into the future (unlike a regnal year, which can only refer to the
present and the past, or the indictions, which are cyclical). While the years of
the Incarnation are universal, the indictions are ‘Roman’ - a purely secular
numbering of years, which does not participate in the cyclical character of
the table as a whole.

The third column lists the lunar epacts. This number represents the age
of the moon on 22 March. That age will increase by 11 days each year,
until the total tops 30 and an embolismic month is inserted. As Bede points
out, one adds the annual lunar epact to the lunar ‘regular’ of any month to
find the age of the moon on the first day of that month in years two through
nineteen of the nineteen-year cycle. The lunar regular is a number assigned
to each month of the calendar, which represents the age of the moon on the

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176 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

first day of that month in year one of the nineteen-year cycled^ The fourth
column contains the solar epacts or concurrents, a number standing for the
weekday of 24 March. Rather cryptically, Bede states that ‘because of the
loss [occasioned by] the leap-year day, they are of necessity completed in
twenty-eight years’. Because the solar year is 52 weeks plus one day long,
this cycle would repeat every seven years were it not for the ‘loss’ of the
leap-year day. In normal years there is one day left over after 52 weeks (52
X 7 = 364 H- 1 = 365), so the concurrent on 24 March will advance by one
in successive years (if 24 March is Monday this year, then it will be Tuesday
next year). But if the next year is a leap year the concurrent must advance
by two (52 X 7 = 364 + 2 = 366) (if 24 March is Monday this year, then it
will be Wednesday next year). It requires 28 years (7 weekdays times the
four years of the leap-year cycle) to work though the sequence of concur¬
rents, e.g. 1,2,3,4 (leap-year), 6,7,1,2 (leap-year), 4,5,6,7 (leap-year), and
so forth. The reason for the choice of 24 March for the concurrent is not
certain.'^ Finally, Bede observes that a full Paschal cycle would have to
work through this twenty-eight-year cycle 19 times. That is because while
the lunar terminus of Easter - the fourteenth day of the moon of the Paschal
month - recurs on the same date every nineteen years, that date will fall on
a different weekday each year, and hence the date of the following Sunday,
Easter day, will vary. All the data in the Paschal table (apart from the annus
domini and the computistically irrelevant indictions) will repeat in exactly
the same sequence over five hundred and thirty-two years.

The fifth column is the lunar cycle. This is an old Roman variation on
the nineteen-year cycle, which begins with a year in which 1 January, rather
than 22 March, is a new moon. Lunar cycle year 1 corresponds to Dionysian
cycle year 4. That is why Bede says the Dionysian cycle ‘precedes’ it by
three years. The sixth column contains the calendar date of the 14th or full
moon of the Paschal month, which is the lunar terminus for Easter. These
recur on the same day every nineteen years. Easter, however (column seven),
does not recur on the same date every nineteen years, because Easter must
fall on a Sunday, and the weekday of the 14th moon will shift according to
the cycle of the concurrents. In consequence, the age of the moon on Easter
Day (column eight) will also vary.

12 See Jones, BOT, p. 356, and Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 65. In Jones’s table, the
lunar regulars are the figures for year “i” (the first horizontal row).

13 For a likely explanation, see Jones, BOT, pp. 387-88, and Wallis, The Reckoning of
Time, p. 342.

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OT, Chapter 14: The Formulas for the Headings of the Paschal Tables

Dionysius Exiguus initially presented his Romanized version of the Alexan¬
drian Paschal Table as a critique of the clumsy attempt by Victorius of Aquit¬
aine to construct a table based on the nineteen-year lunisolar cycle, but
expressed in Roman calendar dates. Victorius’s table enjoyed some unmer¬
ited prestige because it was commissioned by archdeacon Hilarius, later
Pope Hilarius. Dionysius was a foreigner in Rome and enjoyed no such
patronage, so he sent his tables, accompanied by a translation of formulas
{argumenta) for calculating and verifying the data in each column used in
Alexandria, to the otherwise obscure bishop Petronius.'"^ The argumenta
were later expanded, particularly with a view to using them as a teaching
aid: additional versions of the same formula were created, and the ‘present
year’ was sometimes (though not always) updated to the time of writing.
Bede modified Dionysius’s formulas in exactly this way, though he resisted
the temptation to include formulas not pertinent to the eight columns of the
Paschal table. The point of the formulas is not only to instruct the reader
as to how the data in the table were generated, but to allow him to check
the table for accuracy. Then as now, it is difficult to copy rows of figures
accurately.

Bede only departs from Dionysius’s text at the very end of the chapter,
where he presents a rather different formula for finding epacts and concur¬
rents for any year in the future. In ch. 55 of The Reckoning of Time, Bede
presents still other formulas for ascertaining Paschal table data for the distant
future. This stress on the future, indeed, the remote future, is particular to
Bede, and rather curious. What practical purpose could be served by calcu¬
lating the concurrent for one hundred years from now? One motive might
be to reinforce the idea that the world was not about to end, or at least that
as far as human knowledge can ascertain, it is just as likely that the world
will continue a century from now as not. Only God knows when the age will
come to a close. As our Introduction explains, Bede may have composed On
Times with a view to deflating apocalyptic speculation.'^ This novel formula
may be an oblique reference to his determination on this point.

OT, Chapter 15. The Sacrament of the Easter Season

Chapter 15 is presented almost as if it were the summary of an argument
- and indeed it is. The fact that Easter is a movable feast indicates that

14 Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. liiMiv; Dionysius’s text is edited by Kiusch, 2,
75-81.

15 See above, pp. 29—30.

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178 BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

it is more than an anniversary; it embodies transition from death to life,
and since it is what it symbolizes, it is truly a sacrament.'® The criteria
for determining the date of Easter are three, relating respectively to the
year, the month and the week. Easter takes place after the vernal equinox,
because after the equinox, the days are longer than the nights, symbolizing
the triumph of the true Light of the world. The equinox is the terminus a
quo (as medieval Christians understood it) of the full moon of the ancient
Hebrew ‘first month’ of Nisan, the ‘month of new grain’ when new life
came to the human race. Easter was celebrated in the third week of that
lunar month, from the 15th to the 2T“ day of the moon, depending on when
Sunday fell. This, says Bede, refers to the third era of grace, following the
epochs before and under the Law.

This period of the full moon of spring symbolizes ‘the creation of glorious
light’. The phrase as it stands is somewhat cryptic, but Bede’s elaborations
on this theme in The Reckoning of Time provide two possible lines of inter¬
pretation. The Sunday of Easter represents the Eighth Age of the world,
which inaugurates a new creation {The Reckoning of Time 71). Sunday is
the first day of the week, the anniversary of the hrst day of creation, when
God fashioned the hrst of his creatures, light (the sun was only created
on the fourth day). Secondly, at the full moon of the vernal equinox the
world is continuously illuminated for 24 hours - a fact which Bede explicitly
connects to the mystery of the resurrection in The Reckoning of Time 64.

OT, Chapter 16: The Ages of the World - Chapter 22: The Sixth Age

The chronicle of the Six Ages which occupies the remainder of On Times is
a good illustration of Bede’s working habits, at least when he was a young
scholar, engaged in composing didactic treatises. It has been remarked that
Bede laid the foundation course of a treatise by selecting a suitable base
document, onto which he would add nuances, qualifications, alterations and
additions - some culled from other authors, others supplied by his own
reflection."' In the case of the world-chronicle in On Times, the foundation is
Isidore’s Chronica maiora,^^ together with the world-chronicle in Etymolo-

16 For Bede’s innovative understanding of ‘sign’ and its relationship to terms like ‘sacra¬
ment’ and ‘allegory’ or ‘symbol’, see Kendall, ‘The Responsibility of Auctoritas\ pp. 106-16.

17 Holtz, “Bede et la tradition grammaticale latine,” pp. 9-18. Holtz focuses on Bede’s
grammatical and rhetorical output, but the foundation text phenomenon is also visible in Bede’s
earliest Biblical commentary on the Apocalypse, which uses Primasius (without naming him)
in this way.

18 Mommsen’s excellent edition of Isidore’s Chronica maiora has been superseded in
some respects by the recent edition of Jose Carlos Martin (CCSL 112), which includes a

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COMMENTARIES

179

gies 5.38-39, known as Chronicon B. Indeed, with some minor exceptions
these are almost the only sources Bede used. He seems to have used both,
hut showed no consistent preference for either. In our notes on the transla¬
tion, we have adopted the policy of citing the Etymologies chronicle first
where the information is found in both sources. However, this should not be
construed to mean that we believe that Bede did, in fact, prefer the Etymolo¬
gies chronicle.

While he revised its Old Testament chronology quite radically, and
dropped references to the history of Spain (substituting a few discreet refer¬
ences to the arrival and conversion of the English), Bede was faithful to
Isidore’s and Eusebius’s criteria for worthy matter. This included kings and
rulers; cultural figures (at least in classical Antiquity); prophets and (later)
important leaders of the Church; persecutions and heresies. The paratactic
list-like style of the chronicle invited interpolation and excision; as our notes
to the translation indicate, there are elements of the text which are repre¬
sented in only some manuscript witnesses. When he produced his revised
chronicle in ch. 66 of The Reckoning of Time, Bede would not only greatly
expand his range of additional sources, but also adopt a stronger interpretive
stance. For example, he would not only exploit the papal biographies in the
Liber pontifcum, but implicitly present the popes as the true rulers of Rome,
particularly after the end of direct imperial rule in the West. He would also
elaborate the terse final sentence of the Chronicle - ‘The rest of the sixth age
is known to God alone’ - into a trenchant critique of apocalyptic specula¬
tion, both in the closing chapters of The Reckoning of Time and in the Letter
to Plegwin. But it is also a reflection of Bede’s fundamental posture towards
historical time, for even the Ecclesiastical History ends on a note of tenta¬
tive agnosticism: ‘a future age shall see’ (posterior aetas videbit) what the
final outcome and the ultimate meaning of the story of the English Church
and people will be.**

thorough study of the manuscript tradition. However, our translation is based on Mommsen’s
text of Bede’s chronicle, reproduced by Jones, which in turn cites Mommsen’s texts of both of
Isidore’s Chronicles. To minimize confusion, therefore, we have utilized Mommsen’s edition
of Isidore’s Chronica maiora as well as his edition of Isidore’s Chronicon epitome.

19 EH 5.23', see the perceptive remarks of Markus, ‘Bede and the Tradition of Ecclesiastical
Historiography’, p. 388.

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APPENDIX 1

BEDE

A HYMN ON THE WORK OF THE FIRST SIX DAYS
AND THE SIX AGES OF THE WORLD'

1 In the beginning God created the sphere of heaven
And the huge mass of earth.

But the deep abyss had covered the earth,

Which was hidden by darkness.^

2 But over the days that correspond
To the Ages of fleeting time^

He ornamented the globe and the sky
And the whole fabric of the world.

3 On the first day the Creator of the world.
Scattering the darkness.

Illumined with light the globe
Which was still hidden by waters.'*

4 Presently, in the First Age

The most high^ Creator of the world
Filled the inhabitants of the earth

1 Our translation is based on the edition printed by Fidel Radle in his ‘Bedas Hymnus iiber
das Sechstagewerk und die Weltalter’, pp. 59-62, which is to be prefeiTed to that edited by J.
Fraipont, in Bedae Liber Hymnorum (CCSL 122,407-10). Radle’s article includes an introduc¬
tion (pp. 53-58), German translation (pp. 64-65), and commentary on sources, etc. (pp. 66-73).

2 Gen. l:l-2b.

3 Bede echoes his own phrase labentis aeui from the verse epigraph that he prefaced to On
the Nature of Things, where he wrote of the broad ages ‘of fleeting time’ {labentis et aeui).
See above, p. 71.

4 Gen. 1:3, and cf. Bede’s commentary. On Genesis, trans. Kendall, p. 73.

5 Typical Bedan wordplay. The most high {altissimus) Creator bringing light is at the
opposite pole from the deep {alto) abyss (stanza 1) which covers the earth in darkness.

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181

With the joys of blessed light.®

5 On the second day the vast sphere of heaven

Is placed in the midst of the waters
And the labile liquid
Is divided on both sides.’

6 In the very beginning

Of the Second Age the mystical Ark
Is placed in the midst of the waters
Running together from one side and the other.*

7 At the dawning of the world’s third day
The deep abyss flowing

Under the sky subsides.

And dry land appears growing green.®

8 The offspring of Abraham, chosen
From the billowing waves of the faithless,
Grew bright, flowering

At the dawning of the world’s Third Age.'®

6 Cf. Bede’s excursuses on the Ages of the World: On Times 16 (above, pp. 117—18); On
Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 100-5; The Reckoning of Time 10 and 66, trans. Wallis, pp.
39^1,157-59. The ‘joys of blessed light’ that ‘filled the inhabitants of earth’ can be more fully
understood as ‘the light of divine knowledge’ which diminished in humankind as the evening
of the First Age approached (On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 101). Bede reckoned the
First Age from Adam to Noah; the Second from Noah to Abraham; the Third from Abraham
to David; the Fourth from David to the Babylonian exile; the Fifth from the Babylonian exile
to the nativity of Christ; and the Sixth from the nativity of Christ to the day of Judgement
(including the present).

7 Gen. 1:6-8. Bede interprets these verses of Genesis to mean that there are waters above
the starry heavens as well as below on earth (On Genesis 1.16-8, trans. Kendall, pp. 75-77).

8 Noah’s ark is ‘mystical’, because it has not only a literal, historical reality, but also
multiple allegorical meanings. Bede explains that the ark ‘was placed in the midst of the waters,
which all the ruptured fountains of the deep eagerly poured out on the one side and the opened
flood gates of heaven poured out on the other' (On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 101-2;
cf. The Reckoning of Time 10, trans. Wallis, p. 40). This explanation seems to be the basis for
Bede’s wording in stanza 5, which is otherwise scarcely intelligible. Hence, the Hymn must
have been composed sometime after On Genesis, and probably after The Reckoning of Time
(see n. 14 below).

9 Gen. 1:9; 1:11.

10 This stanza follows closely Bede’s language and imagery in On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans.
Kendall, p. 102, and The Reckoning ofTitne 10, trans. Wallis, p. 40.

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182

BEDE: ON NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

9 On the fourth day the light

Of the sublime lamps of heaven gleamed forth
To give the shining grace of light
To earth and sky."

10 The renowned Hebrew people

In the reign of King David gleamed,

Spreading the light of their sublime deeds
In the Eourth Age.'^

11 There is brought forth on the fifth day
A new race of swimming creatures,

Begotten from the limpid waters, and
Of flying creatures under the sky.*^

12 In the Eifth Age in Chaldea,

After the punishment of Judea,

There is brought forth from the infidels,

A new race of the faithful.'^

13 On the sixth day was created
Man, who, displaying

The image of his Creator,

Would live blessed forever.'*’

14 The most high Creator of all.

By whom Man was created.

In the Sixth Age was created
A man, the Son of God.'^

11 Gen. 1:14-15.

12 Cf. On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 102-3; The Reckoning of Time 10, trans.
Wallis, p. 40.

13 Gen. 1:20.

14 ‘In the Fifth Age the people of Israel multiplied in Chaldea’, The Reckoning of Time
10, trans. Wallis, p. 40. Bede does not mention Chaldea in the corresponding passage in On
Genesis, which suggests that the Hymn of the Six Ages may be later than The Reckoning of
Time, ca. 725.

15 The reference is to the return to Israel of some of the children of the Babylonian exile
{On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 103).

16 Gen. 1:26-27.

17 Cf. On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 104.

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APPENDIX 1

183

15 As he sleeps, the splendid
Wife of Adam is formed,

Obtaining bone from his bones.

Flesh from his flesh.'*

16 Now a splendid bride is born
To Christ from his very flesh
And by the mystery of his blood
As he sleeps on the cross.

17 After these lofty deeds the Creator,

Resting on the seventh day,

Ordered it henceforth to be called
And to be the Sabbath.^®

18 The Seventh Age of rest
Will be after this world.

When the Creator observes the Sabbath
After these lofty deeds.

19 The Eighth Age remains,

More sublime than the rest.

When the dead will arise
From their former heap of earth.

20 And the just will see for eternity
The lovely face of Christ,

And they will be like the shining
Angels in the heavenly ark.^^

21 He himself going before
Showed us this path to himself,

God and the Son of God,

Born from the Virgin Mother.

22 For, destroying death by death.

He conquered on the sixth day of the week,

18 Gen. 2:21-23.

19 Christ’s bride is the Church. Cf. On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 104.

20 Gen. 2:2-3.

21 Cf. On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, pp. 104-5.

22 Cf. On Genesis 1.2:3a/b, trans. Kendall, p. 105.

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184

BEDE: ON NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

But he rested on the Sabbath
Hidden in the heart of the earth.

23 And on the first day of the week,

By arising, he opened the gate of life.

And with his fellow rejoicers
He ascended to the throne of the Eather.

24 And in the Six Ages

Of this world he orders that we.

By bearing now our cross.

Conquer the whole law of death.

25 Freed from the bonds of the flesh.

We shall enter the Sabbath of eternal life
After all the battles of the world
Have ended in victory.

26 The first day of the week will follow
To be concluded with no ending.

When the eternal immortality

Of the flesh is returned to us.

27 Thus having obtained the twofold joy
Of flesh and spirit.

We shall ascend to the heavenly walls
Of the eternal kingdom.

28 Allow us to come thither,

We pray, holy Trinity,

And to know Thee, the one
True God, forever.

Commentary

The ‘book of hymns in various metres and rhythms’ that Bede tells us he
composed (EH 5.24, trans. Colgrave, p. 571) has not come down to us intact,
but eleven hymns that are certainly his survive.As Michael Lapidge has
noted, ‘With one curious exception, all the hymns by Bede pertain to feasts
of the liturgical year, not to the daily Office’.^'* The ‘curious exception’ is

23 Hymns numbered 1-3 and 6-13 in Fraipont’s edition (CCSL 122, 407-15, 419-38).

24 Lapidge, ‘Bede the Poet’, pp. 936-37.

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APPENDIX 1

185

our poem, Bede’s hymn on the six days of creation and the six ages of the
world. Bede may have seen this as a way of linking his grand vision of
God’s universal calendar with his love of the Church’s celebration of the
fixed and moveable feasts of the calendar year for which his other hymns
were designed. It is the poetical counterpart of his chapters on the Six Ages
in On Times, The Reckoning of Time, and On Genesis (see above, n. 6),
and a splendid manifestation of his lifelong passion for poetry, cosmology,
chronology, history, allegorical exegesis and prayer.

Like all the other genuine hymns by Bede, it is composed in classical
iambic dimeters, that is, in quantitative octosyllabic iambic lines. As Bede
points out in The Art of Poetry 21, this was the metre that Ambrose employed
in all his hymns. The metrical schema is:

X—D —IX —DXI.“

The hymn is constructed with Bede’s customary skill. From stanza 3 to
stanza 18, successive pairs of stanzas are linked by the repetition of the first
line of the prior stanza as the fourth line of the succeeding stanza (i.e., 3.1
= 4.4; 5.1 = 6.4; 7.1 = 8.4; etc.) (Bede employed this device again in his
Hymn on the Holy Innocents). These repetitions link each of the first seven
days of creation to the corresponding Ages of the World. There are two
pairs of stanzas for the sixth day and Age: in the first (13-14) the creation of
Adam is linked with the appearance of God as man; in the second (15-16)
the creation of Eve is linked with the formation of the Bride of Christ, the
Church, on the cross. The Hymn ends with a prayer to the Trinity.^'’

25 Accent and ictus coincide in the third foot, except when the line ends with a disyllabic
word. Bede employs elision (2.3, 5.3, 9.2, 12.1, 16.3, 17.3, 18.2, 20.4) and generally avoids
hiatus (except 15.4).

26 George H. Brown points out that this follows ‘the common practice of concluding a
hymn with a doxology’ (A Companion to Bede, p. 89).

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APPENDIX 2

AN EXCURSUS ON BEDE’S
MATHEMATICAL REASONING

In an attempt to understand Bede’s approach to an arithmetical problem
and its solution, we offer for those who may be interested a hypothetical
reconstruction of his process of thought in On the Nature of Things 21. How
did Bede construct his formula or ‘method for determining the course of the
moon through the signs of the zodiac’? We begin by assuming that he knew
that one way to find the correct answer to the problem he set is that given
by the second alternative in our commentary (above, p. 151). We further
assume that he worked out the correct answer for himself (5 11/41 signs or
5 signs and 14 2/3 hours).

FIRST APPROXIMATION

The fraction of a sign that the moon advances in one day, expressed in
hours, is 24 hours divided by 54 hours and bes (8/12 [2/3] of an hour, or
40 minutes). Bede simplihes by dropping the awkward fraction of an hour.
Twenty-four divided by 54 is equivalent to 4 divided by 9.' Multiplying
4/9 by 12 gives the answer 5 with a remainder of 3 (or as we would say,
in modern notation, 5 3/9). That remainder of 3 (or 3/9) can be expressed
in hours, if we remember that the divisor 9 represents the sixth part of 54
hours (1/9 of 54 hours = 6 hours). Thus, the remainder of 3 = 3X6 = 18
hours. If the moon’s advance through one sign took exactly 54 hours, it
would advance in 12 days through 5 signs and 18 hours. This is a fairly
good approximation of the true answer, but Bede brings the approximation
even closer.

1 Bede, of course, was working with Roman numerals. His method of calculating fractions
was necessarily different from the one we use with Arabic numerals. We do not attempt to
recreate his method.

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APPENDIX 2

187

TRUE ANSWER (UNSTATED)

The fact that Bede gives the approximate answer in signs one/hours indicates
that he appreciated the equivalence of signs and hours (in his first approxi¬
mation, one sign = 54 hours; 1/3 sign =18 hours). Crucially, he must have
recognized that 5 1/3 of these approximated signs = 288 hours (5 1/3 X 54
= 288), though he leaves this fact unstated. Two hundred and eighty-eight
is, of course, the number of hours in 12 days. Whatever the true answer to
the original problem, that answer multiplied by 54 2/3 hours must also equal
288 hours.

In his first approximation, Bede states that 1/3 sign equals 18 hours. This
implies, though again he does not say so, that the remaining 5 signs of the
first approximation equal 288 minus 18, or 270 hours (and, of course, 5 X
54 = 270). But five 54 2/3-hour signs = 273 1/3 hours, not 270. This is five
besses or 3 1/3 hours too much! But never mind. Keep the five signs (= 273
1/3 hours). Instead, subtract the extra five besses or 3 1/3 hours from the
remainder of 18 hours. 18 minus 3 1/3 hours =14 2/3 hours. The true answer
to the original problem must be, therefore, 5 signs (= 273 1/3 hours) plus 14
2/3 hours (since 273 1/3 + 14 2/3 = 288 hours).

SECOND APPROXIMATION

Bede does not give the true answer to the original problem. He begins with
his first approximation (5 signs and 18 hours). He improves on this by
subtracting three of the extra five besses, because they can be expressed as
a whole number of hours (3 X 2/3 = 2 hours). Thus, his second, and final,
approximation is 5 signs and 16 hours — an excess of two besses, or 1 1/3
hours (an amount that could surely not be detected visually).

The method Bede proposes for deriving the second approximation can
only have been formulated from his knowledge of the correct solution and
some means of reaching it. He may have taken satisfaction in pointing out
orally to his pupils that complete accuracy could be obtained by subtracting
another one bes for the each of the remaining 2 signs (8/12 + 8/12 = 1 1/3).
The point is that his formula allows a workable approximation to be made
with relative ease of what would otherwise be (for most of his readers) a
difficult calculation.

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APPENDIX 3

BEDE’S CALCULATION OF TIDAL PERIODS
AND THE PURPORTED ‘IMMATURITY’
OF ON THE NATURE OE THINGS

Charles W. Jones asserted that ‘[On the Nature of Things] seems somewhat
more immature’ than On Times, because ‘Bede could [not] have taught for
many years before rejecting [Pliny’s] eight-year cycle’.' It is certainly true
that in The Reckoning of Time Bede chooses not to repeat Pliny’s hgures
and opts instead for the somewhat vague statement that ‘[n]atural reason
convinces us that the tides flow according to the pattern of the moon’s cycle
of nineteen years’.^ The implication of Jones’s remark is that On the Nature
of Things must be earlier than On Times, which we know was composed in
703, because in the latter work he describes the nineteen-year lunisolar cycle
at length, but never mentions it in On the Nature of Things, instead referring
to a supposed eight-year lunisolar cycle of Pliny’s.

Several observations are in order. First, Pliny is not advancing a
lunisolar cycle of eight years, but rather a tidal cycle of a hundred lunar
months, or eight years and 28 days (based on a lunar month of 29V2 days).
He does not give a figure for tidal advance. Rather confusingly, he states
that ‘[b]etween two risings of the moon there are two high and two low
tides every 24 hours’.^ It is not clear whether his cycle of 100 lunar months
was meant to be a cycle of high tides per se or a cycle of maximum high
tides (spring tides or malinae), and perhaps he was not clear about this
himself, but was merely repeating what he found in his sources. Second,
his words (centesimo lunae ... ambitu) are susceptible of some latitude of
interpretation. Does ‘at’ the hundredth circuit of the moon mean exactly
8 years and 28 days, or does it mean ‘during’ or ‘after the completion of’
the hundredth circuit? Third, unfortunately, we have no way of knowing

1 DNR, ed. Jones, CCSL 123A, 174.

2 The Reckoning of Time 29, trans. Wallis, p. 85.

3 Pliny, NH 2.99.212, trans. Rackham, p. 343.

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APPENDIX 3

189

whether (a) Bede’s text of Pliny read certissimo for centesimo, or (b) Bede
deliberately altered Pliny’s centesimo to certissimo, or (c) Bede’s centesimo
was miscopied by a scribe.

Bede was certainly capable of using the figure of 47V2 minutes to calcu¬
late a tidal cycle. A tidal advance of 47‘/2 minutes implies a period of 24
hours and 47V2 minutes between high tides on successive days. The problem
may be expressed as follows. From the start of a tidal period of 24 hours and
47V 2 minutes at a given time, say 12 noon, how many periods of 24 hours
must elapse before a tidal period will again begin at noon? The answer can
be obtained by expressing the length of the tidal period over the length of the
day as a fraction. The numerator will give the number of 24-hour periods in
the cycle and the denominator the number of tidal periods in the same cycle.
Thus, 24 and 19/24 hours set over 24 hours equals the fraction 595/576.
After 595 days there will have been 576 tidal periods. 595 days is far short
of Pliny’s eight plus years, but, perhaps realizing that after five 595-day
cycles the diurnal tidal period would again coincide with the original hour
of the day, Bede may have calculated that in those eight years and 53 days
the moon would have completed 100 circuits and been 25 days into the lOP',
loosely, ‘at the 100* circuit’ or more cautiously, ‘at a very precise revolu¬
tion’. This might be enough to explain why Bede chose to repeat Pliny’s
statement.

Bede took his figure for the daily tidal advance (‘3/4 and 1/24 of an
hour’ = 47'/2 minutes) from Pliny’s figure for the delay in moonrise for the
waxing moon. In The Reckoning of Time, chs. 17 and 29, he employed the
less cumbersome expression ‘four punctV (= 48 minutes). Whether this was
a meaningful change intended to improve the accuracy of the figure for
the daily tidal advance may be doubted. Bede would have had no means
of making precise observations capable of distinguishing a difference of
thirty seconds per day. He might have derived it from someone’s empirical
observation that there are roughly 30 diurnal tides every 31 days, which
is to say, 1 diurnal tide every 1 and 1/30 days (31 30), or 24 hours and

48 minutes. And yet, in The Reckoning of Time 29, Bede observes that
there are 57 diurnal (114 semidiurnal) tides in 59 days. Ironically, this is
so nearly correct that, had he carried out the calculation, he would have
arrived at a tidal advance (in modern terms) of 50 minutes, 3 IV 2 seconds,
almost precisely the modern figure of 50 minutes, 28 1/3 seconds. Did he
do so but regard four punch as a reasonable approximation of what would
have been an exceedingly awkward fraction (5/6 + 10/19 hours) to express?
We have no way of knowing. In any case, he may have realized that even a

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BEDE: ON NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

tiny change in tidal advance would have a profound effect on any attempt to
construct a ‘tidal cycle’. In The Reckoning of Time he quietly dropped the
idea of constructing one.

The tidal period is not directly related to the nineteen-year lunar-solar
cycle, since the period is measured by the interval between successive
moments that a given spot on earth is directly aligned with the moon (a
function of the earth’s 24-hour revolution on its axis combined with the
moon’s 27-1/3 day zodiacal circuit of the earth). Bede may have realized
that his was a periodic tidal cycle (in On the Nature of Things), not a cycle
of peak high tides (malinae). The malinae and ledones are generated by the
impact of the 24-hour solar tidal cycle on the 24-hour and 50-minute lunar
tidal period. To construct a cycle of peak high tides would have required
factoring in the nineteen-year lunisolar cycle, which he did not do. But there
is nothing particularly ‘immature’ about Bede’s reasoning. The worst that
can be said is that he was ‘premature’ in accepting Pliny’s tidal cycle. There
is no reason to suppose that he was not conversant with the nineteen-year
lunisolar cycle in On the Nature of Things — he simply had no reason to
invoke it. What is important is that, out of the confusing welter of informa¬
tion and misinformation he inherited from his sources, he extracted the key
fact that the earth’s tides advance and retreat in lockstep with the revolution
of the moon, and that this explains the delay in successive diurnal high
tides — a delay which he was able to express in a quite accurate measure
of time. This was the solid foundation on which he built his highly original
and justly admired chapter on ‘The Harmony of the Moon and the Sea’ in
The Reckoning of Time.

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APPENDIX 4

BEDE AND LUCRETIUS

The student of classical literature will be curious to know what relationship
exists between Bede’s On the Nature of Things and the Roman poet Lucre¬
tius’s great poem of the same name, De Rerum Natura. Did Bede know the
poem, and if so, what use did he make of it? The short answers are, he did
not, and none. Bede took his title and most of his awareness of the de natura
rerum genre from Isidore, not Lucretius.

Unlike Visigothic Spain, where Lucretius’s poem was still known,' there
is no evidence that it was available anywhere in Bede’s time in England.
The only references to Lucretius in any of Bede’s works are to be found,
not in On the Nature of Things, but in his treatises. On Orthography {De
orthographia) and The Art of Poetry {De arte metrica), where he mentions
him by name three times, twice with a brief quotation.^ In On Orthography,
under the lemma ‘camara’, Bede remarks:

Camara [‘vault’, ‘boat’] is spelled with an a, as Verrius Flaccus affirms, not
camera with an e. But since Lucretius writes, cameris ex teretibus [‘from
polished vaults’], he shows that it can also be spelled camera?

Bede took this passage verbatim from the Ars grammatica of Charisius.''
The quotation from Lucretius, as it appeared in the manuscript of Charisius
that Bede copied from, is manifestly not part of a hexameter line, and there
is no reason to suppose that Bede thought that it came from a poem. In The
Art of Poetry, in a chapter on the prosodic differences between ‘ancient’ and
‘modern’ poets, Bede observes:

1 Both Isidore and King Sisebut drew upon it in the seventh century: cf. the apparatus to
DNR and Sisebut’s poem in Fontaine, Traite, and Riche, Education and Culture, p. 259.

2 Jones cites Lucretius four times in the Index Auctorum to the sources of Bede’s educa¬
tional and scientific texts in CCSL 123C, 779. Three of these references ai‘e vague verbal paral¬
lels that can be discounted. The fourth is the reference in De orthographia.

3 Ed. Jones, CCSL 123A, 15.191-93.

4 Ed. Keil, Grammatici Latini 1, 58.23-25.

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BEDE: ON NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES

[the ancient poets] claim that a short vowel followed by QU and any vowel
whatever was common, as Lucretius did in [DRN 6.868]: Quae calidum faciunt
aquae tactum atque uaporem [‘which give a warm feel and steam to the water’].^

In this case, Bede’s source for his claim about the prosodic force of QU in
the classical period was the Excerpta of Audax, who quoted the line from
Lucretius just as Bede gives it.*’ Einally, also in The Art of Poetry, Bede
distinguishes three genres of poetry, one of which, the ‘narrative or exposi¬
tory’ he finds in the Georgies of Vergil, ‘and also in the poems of Lucretius,
and in other works similar to these’ J Here, Bede is quoting from the Ars
grammatica of Diomedes.* Diomedes goes on to say, in a passage that Bede
doesn’t quote but very likely saw, that the expository genre in turn is subdi¬
vided into three types, among them, the didactic poem, which is the vehicle,
inter alia, for ‘the philosophy of Empedocles and Lucretius’.^

In sum, there is no evidence that Bede knew anything about Lucre¬
tius except that he was a poet (and, possibly, a philosopher), not even that
his poem was entitled De rerum natura. He was probably unaware of the
atomistic theory expounded by Lucretius and his master, Epicurus, and
certainly would have rejected the atheistic and hedonistic conclusions attrib¬
uted to them by classical and patristic authors like Cicero and Lactantius.

5 The Art of Poetry 16, trans. Kendall, p. 141.

6 Ed. Keil, Grammatici Latini 7, 328.18—329.3. In point of fact, Lucretius wrote laticis
where Audax and Bede have aquae, though elsewhere he does employ the licence Bede
describes.

7 The Art of Poetry 25, trans. Kendall, p. 165.

8 Ed. Keil, Grammatici Latini 1, 482.20-23.

9 Ed. Keil, Grammatici Latini 1, 483.2.

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INDEX OF SOURCES AND PARALLELS

ONT + ch. no.

= text of On the Nature of Things

OT + ch. no =

text of On Times

Biblical Citations

34:18

or 15

Genesis

Judges

12:11

or 19

2:8

ONT 2

12:13-14

or 19

4:26

OT\l

15:20

or 19

5:3

OT\l

15:31

or 19

5:6

OT\l

1 Kings/3 Kings

5:12

OT\l

4:18

or 19

5:15

or 17

6:1

or 20

5:18

or 17

15:10

or 20